In the current crisis of funding at Columbia, we are seeking your help in funding our research. Please visit our link for more information: https://joinus.cuimc.columbia.edu/participants/BeebeLab. 

 

Our mother–infant face-to-face communication lab at New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, studies the earliest foundations of social connection and cognitive development.

Parent-infant communication lays the groundwork for human connection. Before infants have words, they have a nonverbal language. In face-to-face interactions, parents and infants both communicate in rapid, nuanced shifts of gaze, vocalization, facial expression, head orientation, and hand movements. These shifts unfold so quickly that it is nearly impossible to see them in real time. That is why we videotape these interactions and analyze the communication second-by-second: our “social microscope.”

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We found that infants read all the tiny shifts in their parents’ emotions. And infants affect parents as much as parents affect infants. Whether an infant feels “sensed” and “known” is a powerful predictor of attachment and cognition at one year. 

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The early months set the template for how we build our relationships throughout life. If parents understood how much they are communicating to their infants, and if parents understood more about what their infants are communicating to them, we could have happier children and happier parents. We could help set a stronger foundation for our culture.

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Our research identifies the details of optimal communication patterns, for example those predicting secure attachment. And we identify the details of communication difficulties, for example those associated with maternal depression, anxiety, or being pregnant and widowed on 9/11. Our work has direct implications for early intervention.

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Our new research direction is documenting that prenatal toxic exposures, such as second-hand smoke and chemicals like bisphenol (found in all our plastics), and flame retardants (found in foam baby items), are a risk factor for early mother-infant communication.

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Our unique research approach requires 20 dedicated students. We are training the researchers and clinicians of the next generation.

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Your support will help us continue this essential work. At a time when funding cuts threaten research, your support can safeguard our research program that reveals how babies come to feel known, understood, and loved. Thank you for standing with us!

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Warm regards,

Beatrice Beebe

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