If an adult's responses to a child are unreliable, inappropriate, or simply absent,
the developing architecture of the brain may be disrupted, and subsequent physical, mental, and emotional health may be impaired.
A recent explosion of research from neuroscience now confirms that the first years of life are critical for
developing the architecture of the brain and children's future capacities to learn.
Not exact matches
The activation
of the serve - and - return wiring in the
brain, provide the basis
of healthy
brain architecture: particularly in relation to life - long mental well - being, empathy, emotional regulation, and cognitive skills (Feldman, Rosenthal & Eidelman, 2014; National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child, 2004; World Health Organisation, 2004).
Neural connections form more quickly than at any other stage as speech and language
develops and the
architecture and functionality
of the
brain are established.
She shares, «External experiences help to shape the
architecture of the
developing brain.
What a baby learns in the first weeks and months
of life shape the
architecture of the
developing brain.
It also helps the activation
of the serve - and - return wiring in the
brain, provide the basis
of healthy
brain architecture: particularly in relation to life - long mental well - being, empathy, emotional regulation, and cognitive skills (Feldman, Rosenthal & Eidelman, 2014; National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child, 2004; World Health Organisation, 2004).
«The method thus opens up completely new opportunities for investigating disorders in the
architecture of the
developing human
brain,» explains Dr. Julia Ladewig, who leads a working group on
brain development.
What
develops the
brain is stimulation — the process
of synaptic
architecture depends on stimuli — it strengthens the connections needed and prunes those not needed.
Developing memristive circuits that simulate the
architecture of the
brain on a chip might enhance our understanding
of our own circuitry, or even help to
develop next - generation artificial intelligence.
The emergence
of resting - state fMRI as a means for characterizing the intrinsic functional
architecture of the
brain, unconfounded by task and behavioral effects, has facilitated data collection from younger typically
developing (TD) children and children with ASD (Uddin et al., 2010).
But in the absence
of these responsive relationships, the
brain's
architecture doesn't
develop optimally.
Protecting Children From Toxic Stress New York Times, October 30, 2013» «What the science is telling us now is how experience gets into the
brain as it's
developing its basic architecture and how it gets into the cardiovascular system and the immune system,» explains Jack P. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, where the term toxic stress was coin
developing its basic
architecture and how it gets into the cardiovascular system and the immune system,» explains Jack P. Shonkoff, director
of the Center on the
Developing Child at Harvard University, where the term toxic stress was coin
Developing Child at Harvard University, where the term toxic stress was coined.»
This reflects growing interest in the extent to which excessive activation
of stress response systems can lead to disruptions in
developing brain architecture that create barriers to learning, as well as impairments in other maturing organs and metabolic regulatory functions that lead to lifelong problems in health.
This task
of translating the science
of early childhood development begins by determining what needs translating, then identifies obstacles to public understanding, and concludes by
developing and verifying the impact
of simplifying models or metaphors that improve public thinking (e.g. «
brain architecture,» «serve and return,» and «toxic stress»).
«When an adult responds appropriately and consistently to a baby or young child with eye contact, words, or gestures, it builds and strengthens neural connections that form the foundation
of brain architecture,» says Jack Shonkoff, director
of the Center on the
Developing Child and one
of the scientific advisors to Vroom!
According to the Harvard Center for Child Development, toxic stress weakens the
architecture of the
developing brain.
Children growing up in poverty and in high - stress circumstances are at increased risk
of developing these changes in
brain architecture.
Excessive stress disrupts the
architecture of the
developing brain: Working paper 3.
As early experiences shape the
architecture of the
developing brain, they also lay the foundations
of sound mental health.
Early childhood experiences that promote relational health lead to secure attachment, effective self - regulation and sleep, normal development
of the neuroendocrine system, healthy stress - response systems, and positive changes in the
architecture of the
developing brain.86, 87 Perhaps the most important protective factors are those that attenuate the toxic stress effects
of childhood poverty on early
brain and child development.3, 5,88
Watch the video below to explore how different experiences affect the
architecture of the
developing brain.
How does what Paul Kershaw calls the «growing squeeze» on parents and caregivers for time, money, and resources alter the
architecture of the
developing brain of our infants?
Excessive stress disrupts the
architecture of the
developing brain: Working Paper No. 3.
Advances in neuroscience have revealed that the process
of brain development is driven by a dynamic interaction between the genome (nature) and the environment (nurture).25 Epigenetic mechanisms like DNA methylation and histone acetylation are able to transduce experiences with the environment into long - lasting, even intergenerational changes in gene expression.26 — 35 So although the inherited genetic program is thought to provide a general blueprint for
brain architecture, the environment is able to influence which genes are used, when they are used during the course
of development, and where they are used within the
developing brain.
This page on the Center for the
Developing Child at Harvard Web site provides excellent written and visual information that explains and shows how the
architecture of the
brain develops, the importance
of serve and return relationships for healthy development and the impact
of trauma and toxic stress on
brain development.
Rooted in a deepening understanding
of how
brain architecture is shaped by the interactive effects
of both genetic predisposition and environmental influence, and how its
developing circuitry affects a lifetime
of learning, behavior, and health, advances in the biological sciences underscore the foundational importance
of the early years and support an EBD framework for understanding the evolution
of human health and disease across the life span.
The biology
of early childhood adversity reveals the important role
of toxic stress in disrupting
developing brain architecture and adversely affecting the concurrent development
of other organ systems and regulatory functions.
A wealth
of research has shown that stress and hardship in childhood — such as that caused by abuse, neglect, exposure to violence and mental illness in caregivers — can alter the
brain architecture of a
developing child.
This working paper from the National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child explains why an environment
of relationships is crucial for the development
of a child's
brain architecture, which lays the foundation for later developmental outcomes.
by the CHOICES we make about the levels
of training and education provided to parents in areas like early childhood development, including the impact
of toxic stress on the
developing brain architecture and shaken baby syndrome; child sexual abuse; and bullying;
The curricula we use in our classes have been demonstrated to actually improve the physical
architecture of a child's
developing brain.