6.14.2012

Babies' Super-Grip!

This is a "Stuff I Just Learned" favorite, from the March 2012 issue of Reader's Digest:

Stronger than it looks?
"Using what's known as the palmar grasp reflex, many infants can squeeze a finger or small object tightly enough to support their body weight if they were lifted. Experts think the reflex, which lasts until a baby is about six months old, may have originated with young primates who needed to hold tight to their mothers while they moved from branch to branch."
Did you catch that? When your friend's baby grips your finger with his little hand, this says that if you lifted your hand, the baby could hang from your finger on his own strength! I am just not sure if I believe that, although I know that babies do hold on tight. I wonder if my brother will let me try with his new baby... :)

Dr. John B. Watson & Rosalie Raynor studying a newborn's grasp reflex, 1916-1920
(via WeirdHistoryPix)

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