Granny Knot

It was suggested, in the 1960's, that women live decades after their reproductive years, because their presence increases their grandchildren's chances of surviving and thriving. An Emory University (Atlanta, USA) study used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 50 women with at least one biological grandchild (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/17/grandmothers-may-be-more-connected-to-grandchildren-than-to-own-offspring). The MRI scans were made whilst the women looked at photographs of a) the grandchild; b) the child's parents or c) an unrelated child/adult. The scans strikingly revealed the women showed their highest empathy, when responding to their grandchild's image. This empathy was higher than that shown in response to images of their own children (the parent of the grandchild). The study doesn't, of course, 'prove' the 1960's suggestion about the utility of grandma but it does confirm that these grannies had a special tie to their grandchildren. It would be interesting to repeat the study in a range of family structures (the 'nuclear family' isn't the only model).