Love makes chimps smarter than human babies

In fact,the researchers at University of Portsmouth,have based their findings on an analysis of tests of cognitive ability,which they carried out on human and chimp babies.

They gave 46 baby chimps the same cognitive tests given to human babies,measuring how they reacted to emotional stimuli such as sound and objects,and found that those who are put on a special course of emotionally based,loving care from zookeepers were more cognitively advanced than human children of the same age given loving care by their natural parents.

But humans took over after the age of nine months,the study found.

Lead researcher Professor Kim Bard said: “Those given responsive care were less easily stressed,less often attached to ‘comfort blankets’,had healthier relationships with their caregivers and were less likely to develop stereotype rocking.

According to the researchers,the study proved that young chimpanzees,like humans,need emotional support as well as physical support to become “well-adjusted” adults.

“The study acted as a stark warning that looking after just an infant’s physical needs was likely to result in a kid who’s maladjusted,unhappy and under-achieving. The attachment system of infant chimpanzees appears surprisingly similar to that found in human infants.

“Early experiences,either of warm,responsive care-giving or of extreme deprivation,have a dramatic impact on emotional and cognitive outcomes in chimpanzees and humans,”she said.

Chimps are the closest living relatives to humans and both evolved from a common ape ancestor some five million years ago.