Transcript Slide 1

The Amazing Developing
Brain
Pat Wolfe, Ed.D.
Project GLAD September, 2008
The Developing Brain
There are t wo f act ors that
det ermine how t he brai n
develops...
1. Genes are t he bui lding blocks. Some are
determinants and other are predispositions.
PET scans show that between the ages
of 4 and 12 glucose utilization levels
are 225% higher than in adult brains.
Harry Chugani, Wayne State Univ.
Synaptogenesis
4 years
birth
10-12 years
death
This use of glucose indicates the growth of
synapses and appears to be genetically
driven.
The Developing Brain
2. Environment - the on-the-job
foreman
The environment provides the instruction for the
final construction of the brain.
The brain gobbles up the external
environment through its sensory system
and then reassembles the digested
world in the form of trillions of
connections which are...
Constantly growing or dying , becoming
stronger or weaker....
Depending on the richness of the
banquet.
(Adapted from Kotulak’s Inside the Brain, 1997.)
Genes & Environment as
Partners
Genes and the environment work
closely together during the first three to
four years to form a healthy brain.
It is during these years that the
foundations are laid down for:
* vision
* language
* vocabulary
* intellectual development
* emotional development
Myelination
Myelin….
is a fatty substance
(glial cells) that coats
axons and speeds the
electrical impulse.
appears to develop in
a preset pattern from
birth to about age 30.
Why Myelin?
Myelination appears to determine the
critical periods or “windows of
opportunity” for proper development of
neural pathways.
If the necessary stimuli aren’t
available or if certain skills remain
unused during these periods, the
pathways may not develop properly and
the potential for those skills may
never be developed.
Development of Vision
Lack of visual stimulation at birth
causes the brain cells designed to
interpret vision to dry up or be
diverted to other tasks.
Vision (continued)
The neurons in the visual circuits
have a growth spurt at the age of 2 to 4
months, which corresponds to when babies
start to really notice the world. This growth
peaks at 8 months, when each neuron is
connected to 15,000 other neurons.
A baby whose eyes are clouded by cataracts from
birth will, despite cataract-removal surgery
at age two, be forever blind.
Although the eyes may be perfectly healthy, the
child will not be able to see.
Hearing and Language
• The critical period for learning a
spoken language is totally lost by
about age ten.
• When a child is born deaf, the
50,000 neural pathways that
would normally carry sound
messages from the ears to the
brain are silent.
Second Language
Development
The learning of a second language is also
dependent upon the stimulation of the
neurons for the sounds of that
language.
Learning a second language after age 10
to 12 is not only more difficult, it is
highly unlikely that it will be spoken
without an accent.
Vocabulary
Babies whose mothers talk to
them more have a bigger
vocabulary.
At 20 months, babies of
talkative mothers knew 131
more words than infants of
less talkative moms.
At 24 months the difference
was 295 words.
Janellen Huttenlocher,
University of Chicago
Syntax
The critical period for learning syntax is
before age 3.
Everyone can learn to use nouns and verbs
correctly throughout childhood. But the
critical period for learning the correct use
of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions
seems to be much shorter.
Helen J. Neville,
Salk Institute, San Diego
Endangered Minds
Author Jane Healy contends that many
of our children's minds are endangered
because they are living in a "language
deprived" environment.
1.
Many children are not talked to or read to or
encouraged to interact verbally.
2.
Children watching television aren't personally
involved with language.
3.
Majority of babies born in U.S. are placed in
full time day care within a year. In many
day care centers there is little interactive
talk.
“The biology of our species makes
necessary a huge parental investment
in order to achieve the fulfillment of
each child’s potential.”
David Hamburg, Carnegie
Corporation of New York
The lack of stimulating experiences
and intellectual enrichment is a
problem not only in poor neighborhoods. Many parents, regardless of
their income, do not have enough time
or knowledge to organize a stimulating
environment for their children.
Intellectual Development
The I Q’s of children born into
poverty, or of those who were
premature at birth, can be
significantly raised by exposure
to toys, words, proper parenting
and other stimuli.
Abecedarian Project
Craig and Sharon Ramey, exposed a
group of impoverished
inner-city children (beginning as young
as 6 weeks) to an enriched
environment, 5 days a week, 50 weeks
a year. A control group received no
intervention other than nutritional
information for parents.
Results............IQs of children in this
group were significantly higher than in the
control group....15 to 30 points higher! At
12 years of age, the benefits of the early
intervention endured.
“The bottom line is that we now have clear
and strong evidence that if we begin early
intervention in the first years of life, we
can prevent a very substantial amount of
mental retardation and developmental
disabilities.”
Craig Ramey, quoted in “Inside
the Brain” by Ronald Kotulak
Emotional Development
The circuits controlling emotion are
laid down before birth...then the
environment takes over.
“Emotions, not cognitive stimulation, serve as the
mind’s primary architect. We suggest that babies’
emotional exchanges with their caregivers, rather
than their ability to fit pegs into holes...should
become the primary measuring rod of development
and intellectual competence.”
Stanley Greenspan in
Growth of the Mind, 1997.
Notes from Bruce Perry
* We are social animals. We have no
natural body armor to protect us.
Our connections with other people is
our protection.
* The brain is created....the product
of learning. We don’t just learn
geography, we learn how to read
the context...how close to stand to
someone, how long to maintain eye
contact, etc.
* The brain is not fully functional at
birth; it is tremendously malleable.
The experiences of childhood
determine its potential.
* Consistent relationships are
necessary. The child who has never
been loved will not know how to love.
* Healthy children are not just
bright; they are attached, productive
members of society.
Romanian Orphan Brain &
Normal Brain at 3
Normal & Neglected Brains
Aside from parents,
teachers
have more influence on our
culture than any
other group.
Dr. Bruce Perry
The better we understand the brain,
the better we’ll be able to educate it.