In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

by Gabor Maté

brain-wave patterns of two groups of six-month-old infants: one group whose mothers were suffering postpartum depression and one group whose mothers were in normal good spirits. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) showed consistent, marked differences between the two groups: the babies of the depressed mothers had EEG patterns characteristic of depression even during interactions with their mothers that were meant to elicit a joyful response. Significantly, these effects were noted only in the frontal areas of the brain, where the centers for the self-regulation of emotion are located.10 How does this pertain to brain development? Repeatedly firing nerve patterns become wired into the brain and will form part of a person’s habitual responses to the world. In the words of the great Canadian neuroscientist Donald Hebb, “cells that fire together, wire together.” The infants of stressed or depressed parents are likely to encode negative emotional patterns in their brains.