Starting Smart
Second Edition
Starting
Smart
How Early
Experiences Affect
Brain Development
®
S
THE
OUNCE OF
PREVENTION
FUND
Starting Smart
How Early Experiences Affect
Brain Development
Michael Stevens is a healthy, beautiful newborn baby. As his parents admire him, they wonder, "What will Michael be like when he grows up? Will he do well in school? Will he get along with other kids and be happy?" Scientists now believe that the answers to these questions depend in large part on how young
Michael’s brain develops, and that this development in turn depends largely on the nutritional, medical, emotional, and intellectual support his parents, extended family, and community provide for him during his childhood.
Recent advances in brain research have provided great insight into how the brain, the most immature of all organs at birth, continues to grow and develop after birth.
Whereas this growth had been thought to be determined primarily by genetics, scientists now believe that it is also highly dependent upon the child’s experiences. Research shows that, like protein, fat, and vitamins, interactions with other people and objects are vital nutrients for the growing and developing brain, and different experiences can cause the brain to develop in different ways. It is this "plasticity" of the brain, its ability to develop and change in response to the demands of the environment, that will enable Michael to learn how to use computers as successfully as his ancestors learned how to hunt animals in the wild.
As he grows, Michael’s ability to understand language, solve problems, and get along with other people will be influenced by what he experiences as an infant and young child. This is not to say that individual genetic differences have no influence on how a child develops; they do. But there is mounting evidence that experiences affect the way genes are expressed (i.e., turned on and off) in the developing brain. While good early
Starting
Smart
How Early
Experiences Affect
Brain Development
®
S
THE
OUNCE OF
PREVENTION
FUND
Starting Smart
How Early Experiences Affect
Brain Development
Michael Stevens is a healthy, beautiful newborn baby. As his parents admire him, they wonder, "What will Michael be like when he grows up? Will he do well in school? Will he get along with other kids and be happy?" Scientists now believe that the answers to these questions depend in large part on how young
Michael’s brain develops, and that this development in turn depends largely on the nutritional, medical, emotional, and intellectual support his parents, extended family, and community provide for him during his childhood.
Recent advances in brain research have provided great insight into how the brain, the most immature of all organs at birth, continues to grow and develop after birth.
Whereas this growth had been thought to be determined primarily by genetics, scientists now believe that it is also highly dependent upon the child’s experiences. Research shows that, like protein, fat, and vitamins, interactions with other people and objects are vital nutrients for the growing and developing brain, and different experiences can cause the brain to develop in different ways. It is this "plasticity" of the brain, its ability to develop and change in response to the demands of the environment, that will enable Michael to learn how to use computers as successfully as his ancestors learned how to hunt animals in the wild.
As he grows, Michael’s ability to understand language, solve problems, and get along with other people will be influenced by what he experiences as an infant and young child. This is not to say that individual genetic differences have no influence on how a child develops; they do. But there is mounting evidence that experiences affect the way genes are expressed (i.e., turned on and off) in the developing brain. While good early
References: The Cost, Quality and Child Care Outcomes Study Team. (1995). Cost, quality, and child care outcomes in child care centers D. (1999). Developmental traumatology. Part 1: Biological stress systems. Biological Psychiatry, 45, 1259-1270. (1999). Developmental traumatology. . Part 2: Brain development. Biological Psychiatry, 45, 1271-1284. Field, T. M. (1995). Psychologically depressed parents. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 4. Fletcher, K. E. (1996). Childhood postraumatic stress disorder. In E. H. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Child Psychopathology (pp Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children Huttenlocher, J., Haight, W., Bryk, A., Seltzer, M., & Lyons, T. (1991). Early vocabulary growth: Relation to language input and gender Huttenlocher, P. R., & Dabholkar, A. S. (1997). Regional differences in synaptogenesis in the human cerebral cortex Kaufman, J., & Charney, D. S. (1999). Neurobiological correlates of child abuse. Biological Psychiatry, 45, 1235-1236. Lieberman, A. F., & Zeanah, H. (1995). Disorders of attachment in infancy. Infant Psychiatry, 4, 571-587. MacMillan, H. L., MacMillan, J. H., Offord, D. R., Griffith, L., & MacMillan, A. (1994). Primary prevention of child physical abuse and neglect: A critical review National Center for Early Development and Learning. (1999). The children of the Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study go to school Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R. Jr., Phelps, C., Kitzman, H., & Hanks, C. (1993). Effect of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation on government spending Ramey, C., Campbell, F., & Blair, C. (1998). Enhancing the life course for high-risk children. In J. Crane (Ed.), Social programs that work (pp Yip, R., Binkin, N. J., Fleshood, L, & Trowbridge, F. L. (1987). Declining prevalence of anemia among low-income children in the United States