Inspired by Harry Harlow's famous experiments on rhesus monkeys, which established a link between neurotic behavior and isolation from a care-giving mother, Prescott further proposed that a key component to development comes from the somesthetic processes (body touch) and vestibular-cerebellar processes (body movement) induced by mother-child interactions, and that deprivation of this stimulation causes brain abnormalities.
Professor Ronald Hinchcliffe was a consultant at the hospital in the 1960s, where he established a vestibular research laboratory.
At age 14, Vanessa moved alone to Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, 1,199 km (745 miles) away from Alto Garças, in order to prepare for her vestibular exam, through which she intended to join a Medical school.