An Introduction to Early Brain Development

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An Introduction to Early Brain Development
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Workshop Agenda Day 1
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Workshop Agenda Day 2
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Introduction to the Science of Early Brain
Development
I
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Overview

• Why is it important to understand early brain
  development?
• Healthy Populations
• Investing in the Early Years

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Why is it important to understand early brain
development?
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Why is it important to understand early brain
development?

• Brain is control centre for body
• Babies brains are not fully developed at birth
• Early brain development impacts all areas of
  adult life
• Interactions with people affect early brain
  development

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Why is it important to understand early brain
development?

• Adults who understand brain development can make
  a difference in the young children they interact
  with!

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What have you heard?

• Increased research has resulted in brain
  development becoming a popular media topic
• Research can be taken out of context or reported
  inaccurately
• What have you heard in the media about brain
  development?

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Healthy Populations
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What makes a population healthy?
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Healthy Populations

• Healthy populations start with healthy

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Social Determinants of Health
Geography
Income Social Status
Education
Social Environments
Health Services
Gender
Social Support Networks
Culture
Employment Working Conditions
Physical Environments
Healthy Child Development

• National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of
  Health
• www.NCCDH.com

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The Gradient Effect
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Early Development Instrument

• A population-based measure of childrens
  development at Kindergarten entry
• Measures development across five domains
• Physical Health Well-being
• Social Competence
• Emotional Maturity
• Language and Cognitive Development
• Communication Skills

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Early Development Instrument

• Used to measure amount of children that are
  vulnerable in one or more domains of
  development
• Results can be mapped by neighborhood, community,
  or municipality
• Used to track patterns of development over time
• Can inform programs and policy in early child
  development

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Early Development Instrument
www.offordcentre.com/readiness
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Investing in the Early Years
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Importance of investing in the early years

• Investments in the early years produce the
  highest economic returns later in life.
• Dr. James Heckman
• Nobel Prize in Economics (2000)

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Rates of Return on Investments in Human Capital
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Brain Development Opportunity and Investment


? Brain growth and maximum potential for change
? Conception
? Birth
1
3
10
60
80
Age
Dr. Jacques Vandergaag University of Amsterdam
- Calgary Presentation January 2004
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Public Spending on Children 0-6

Canada 0.3
Starting Strong II Early Childhood Education and
Care. OECD 2006.
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UNICEF Report Card
Canada ranks last (tied with Ireland) out of 25
OECD countries by meeting only 1 of 10 benchmarks
for supporting transition to child care for
families. UNICEF Innocenti Report Card, 2008
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Supporting Children in Canada

• Canada falls behind in public spending and
  policies to support early childhood
• Highest return on investments in human capital
  during the preschool years
• Canada needs to invest more in its children

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Rates of Return on Investments in Human Capital

• What kinds of investments in the early years
  make a difference for early brain development?

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Prenatal Brain Development
II
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Overview

• Prenatal Brain Development
• Prenatal Attachment
• Stress and Pregnancy
• Healthy Pregnancies

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Supporting Families

• What do we currently do to support families
  expecting children?
• What more can we do?

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Prenatal Brain Development
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Prenatal Brain Development

• Development of the fetus is determined by both
  genetics and the environment
• Genes
• from mothers egg and fathers sperm
• Environment
• womb
• health and nutrition of the mother
• external supports
• stress and the mother

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Prenatal Brain Development

• The environment and experiences that affect brain
  development are interpreted through the sensory
  systems
• Everything infants hear, smell, touch, taste and
  see shapes the development of the brain

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The Senses

• When do you think the senses develop and in
  which order?

touch
taste
smell
hear
see
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Touch
Touch ? 7-8 weeks gestation
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Taste and Smell ? around 12 weeks gestation
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Hearing ? around 21 weeks gestation
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Vision ? During the third trimester
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Dr. Seuss Experiment
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Premature Babies
Research on prenatal sensory development and the
environment in the womb has contributed to the
care of premature infants.
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Prenatal Attachment
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Prenatal Attachment

• Attachment is the emotional bond formed between
  infants and caregivers
• Attachment begins prenatally
• Attachment plays an important role in brain
  development

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Prenatal Attachment
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Stress and Pregnancy
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Stress and Pregnancy

• High maternal stress during pregnancy can affect
  fetal brain development
• How?
• can affect nutrients and oxygen available to the
  fetus
• stress hormones can cross placenta and affect
  fetus directly
• Partners, family, and community members play a
  role

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Animal Studies

• Offspring of highly stressed mothers tend to
• Be more sensitive to stress
• Explore less
• Have shorter attention spans

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Healthy Pregnancies
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Healthy Pregnancies

• Mental health
• Depression, anxiety
• Physical health
• Prenatal health care
• Nutrition
• Treatment of infections
• Avoidance of teratogens

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Mental Health

• Maternal depression is a risk factor for
  social/emotional cognitive development of
  children
• Depression during pregnancy increases risk of
• inadequate prenatal care
• poor nutrition
• higher preterm birth
• low birth weight

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Physical Health

• Prenatal health care
• Nutrition
• Treatment of infections
• Avoidance of teratogens
• Cigarettes
• Alcohol
• Drugs and medications
• Environmental toxins

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Alcohol Brain Development
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Cigarettes and Brain Development
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Drugs and Medication
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Chemicals in the Environment
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Supporting Families

• What do we currently do to support families
  expecting children?
• What more can we do?
• How can early childhood professionals support
  expecting young children?

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Brain Anatomy
III
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Overview

• Technology to Visualize the Brain
• Introduction to Brain Anatomy
• The Cerebral Cortex
• The Neuron

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Technology to Visualize the Brain
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Technology to Visualize the Brain

• Recent advances in technology has allowed us to
  visualize the brain
• This has helped researchers learn how the brain
  develops

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Visualizing the Brain
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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Brain Anatomy
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Brain Anatomy

• The brain is organized into four parts
• 1. brain stem
• 2. cerebellum
• 3. limbic system
• 4. cerebral cortex

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1. Brain Stem

• Basic survival functions including
• Breathing
• Heart rate
• Digestion
• Temperature regulation

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2. Cerebellum

• Coordinates body movements and automatic reflexes
  such as sucking and blinking
• Balance

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3. Limbic System

• Processes emotions including fear and anxiety
• Amygdala registers emotions
• Hippocampus stores memories
• Also responsible for memory motivation

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4. Cerebral Cortex

• Responsible for higher level processes including
• Thinking
• Reasoning
• Decision-making
• Planning
• Creativity
• Sensory Processes

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Parts of the Brain

• Different processes are concentrated in different
  areas of the brain
• Example limbic system

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Hemispheres of the Brain

• Brain is divided into two hemispheres
• Connect through a band of nerve fibers
• Right hemisphere
• Big picture, overall impressions
• Artistic
• Left hemisphere
• Focuses on details
• Logical

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The Cerebral Cortex
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Cerebral Cortex
Frontal Lobe
Parietal Lobe
Temporal Lobe
Occipital Lobe
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Temporal Lobe

• Hearing and language processing

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Occipital Lobe

• Vision centre

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Parietal Lobe

• Perception of senses such as taste, smell, and
  touch

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Frontal Lobe

• Thinking, reasoning, planning, judgment
  decision-making, creativity

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The Neuron
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Neurons Building Blocks of the Brain

• Neurons are brain cells, responsible for all
  functions in the brain
• Every brain process is a result of signals being
  sent between neurons, through neural pathways

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Structure of a Neuron

• Neurons are composed of 3 main parts
• Dendrites
• Cell body
• Axon

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Synapses

• Neurons communicate with other neurons through a
  synapse
• A synapse is a microscopic gap between the axon
  of one neuron and the dendrites of another

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Direction of Signal
Dendrite
Cell Body
Axon
Synapse
Dendrite
Cell Body
Axon
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Neurotransmitters

• Chemicals carry the signal across the synapse
  from one neuron to another
• Neurotransmitter examples
• Dopamine
• Acetylcholine
• Serotonin

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Ingested Substances and Synapses

• Caffeine ? speeds up transmission of signals
• Alcohol ? slows the transmission of signals
• Aspirin ?blocks the transmission of signals in
  pain pathways

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Example Pick up a object

• Frontal lobe ? decision to pick up the object
• Motor Cortex (Parietal Lobe) ?plans an ideal path
  for the hand to reach the object with help of the
  Vision System (Occipital Lobe)
• Cerebellum ? coordinates muscles and movement to
  reach towards the object
• Signals are sent to spinal cord and then to the
  arm to pick up an object

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Getting Wired Activity
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Early Brain Development

• IV

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Overview

• Nature and Nurture
• Stages of Brain Development
• Pruning synapses

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Nature and Nurture
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Nature vs Nurture?
Nurture
Nature
No longer a debate!
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Genes and Experiences

• Genes work through our experiences to drive brain
  development
• The environment and experiences depend on your
  family, community, neighborhood, society, and
  culture
• No two individuals have the same experience, even
  identical twins

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GENES
EXPERIENCES
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Stages of Brain Development
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Brain Development

• Brain development can be considered a wiring
  process
• Neurons form connections with other neurons to
  create neural pathways
• Neural pathways are responsible for all major
  brain processes

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How does the brain wire?

• Neurons multiply
• Move into their positions
• Grow dendrites and axons
• Form connections (synapses)
• Myelination

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Forming Neurons
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Cell Migration
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Cell Differentiation
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Forming Synapses
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Myelination
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Shaken Baby Syndrome

• Occurs when a baby is inappropriately shaken,
  usually by a frustrated caregiver
• Shaking causes permanent brain damage or death
• Brain impacts the skull, rupturing blood vessels
  and cause bleeding in the brain
• Axons that are not myelinated can stretch and
  tear, impairing brain activity and causing
  neuronal death

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Brain Anatomy

• The brain is organized into four parts
• 1. brain stem
• 2. cerebellum
• 3. limbic system
• 4. cerebral cortex

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Glial Cells
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Nature and Nurture
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Pruning Synapses

• Brain produces many more synapses than are needed
  early in life
• Synapses that are used often are strengthened
• Synapses that arent used frequently are weakened
  and pruned away

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Making the brain more efficient

• The pruning of synapses in the early years may
  seem like a loss
• It actually allows the remaining synapses and
  pathways to be stronger and more efficient
• Thinning carrots in your garden

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Pruning
7 years old
Birth
15 years old
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The role of experience

• Pruning is a very selective process that is
  especially responsive to stimulation through the
  senses in the early years
• Pruning is a brain development process where our
  environment and experiences have a strong
  influence

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The role of experience
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Workshop Agenda Day 1
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Workshop Agenda Day 2
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Experience-based Brain Development

• V

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Overview

• How do Genes Work?
• Sensitive Periods Brain Plasticity
• Attachment and Brain Development
• Dandelions and Orchids
• Importance of Everyday, Normal Experiences

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GENES
EXPERIENCES
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How do Genes Work?
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Epigenetics Genes Environment

• Environments and experiences can alter the way
  genes are expressed (turned on/off)
• These changes occur most easily during the
  prenatal period and early years
• Epigenetic changes can be constant throughout the
  lifespan

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Epigenetics Study
Maternal depression/anxiety during 3rd trimester
of pregnancy
Epigenetic modification of stress hormone
receptor in infant
Stress response in infant at 3 months of age
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Sensitive Periods Brain Plasticity
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Sensitive Periods

• Periods during development when the brain is more
  responsive to stimulation from the environment
• The brain is more able to strengthen or prune
  away connections based on experience during this
  time

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VISION
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Examples
LANGUAGE
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Sensitive Periods
Language
Seeing/hearing
Higher cognitive functions
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Brain Plasticity

• It is understood that the brain develops most
  significantly during the first few years of life,
  but it is important to remember that the brain
  remains plastic (changeable) throughout life.
• You are learning right now, arent you?

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Attachment Brain Development
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Attachment

• Strange Situation Study Mary Ainsworth
• Child are caregiver are separated briefly
  childs behaviour during separation and return
  are studied to identify one of four types of
  attachment
• Secure (50-75 of children)
• Avoidant (15-30)
• Ambivalent (4-25)
• Disorganized (15-25)

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Attachment and Brain Development

• Secure attachments are formed by
• consistent care giving
• responding to infants needs
• emotional bonding
• Early life attachments are processed by the
  limbic system, and are stored as emotional
  memories.

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Attachment and Brain Development

• Children who are securely attached tend to have
• More self confidence
• More independence
• Less stress reactivity
• Better relationships

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Attachment and Brain Development

• During the sensitive periods of brain
  development, healthy attachments are important
• If a secure attachment is not formed early in
  life, it will be more difficult for a child to
  bond with others later in life
• Secure attachments create the safe environment
  children need to learn and grow

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Dandelions Orchids
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Resilience

• Resilience is the capacity for positive
  adaptation despite adverse circumstances
• Why do some children do well under most
  circumstances, while others have poorer outcomes?

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Importance of Everyday, Normal Experiences
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Importance of Everyday, Normal Experiences

• Parents, grandparents, caring adults, even
  children often instinctively know what babies
  need to develop
• Other than their physical needs, infants need to
  be provided with love, affection, and responsive
  and nurturing care

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Parentese
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What can go wrong?

• VI

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OVERVIEW

• What is Stress?
• Stress Response Systems
• Stress and Brain Development
• Research on Stress and Brain Development

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What is Stress?
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What is stress?

• What comes to mind when you think of stress?
• Is all stress bad?
• How can some situations be stressful for one
  person, but stimulating for another?
• What about babies and young children? Can they be
  stressed?

141
What is stress?

• Definition of Stress
• Any stimulus or event that creates emotional,
  physical or mental tension

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Dont go NUTS!

• Dr. Sonia Lupien describes the components of
  stress
• N Novelty
• U Unpredictability
• T Threat to the ego
• S Sense of loss of control
• Stress Dont go NUTS!
• With the NUTS acronym, it is easy to see that
  children can, and often do, experience stress. 

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Not all stress is bad

• Three types of Stress
• Positive stress
• Tolerable Stress
• Toxic Stress

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Stress Response Systems
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Fighting and Flying

• If our ancestors were unable to detect a threat
  and quickly respond, we would not be here
• The bodys response to threat is called the
  fight or flight response
• It allowed us to survive in an unpredictable
  world filled with predators

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FIGHT?
FLIGHT?
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Stress Response Systems

• How does the brain and body react to stress?
• 2 main systems
• Autonomic nervous system
• Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortico (HPA) pathway

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Autonomic Nervous System

• Fight or Flight response
• Epinephrine (adrenaline)
• Response
• Increased heart rate
• Increased breathing rate
• Mobilized energy
• Decreased digestion
• Decreased salivation

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Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortico (HPA) pathway

• Slower acting
• Cortisol
• Mobilizes energy stores
• Suppresses immune response
• Provides feedback to the brain (limbic system)
  that helps you remember the cause of stress
• Prolonged elevated cortisol levels affect brain
  development

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Releasing Hormones Adrenaline Cortisol
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Stress and Brain Development
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How does stress affect the brain?

• Stress pathways are very responsive to the
  environment in the early years
• Experiences can shape how sensitively the brain
  responds to stress
• This is likely due to epigenetic modifications on
  proteins involved in the stress pathway

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Stress and Learning

• The stress response system involves the limbic
  system in the brain
• When a child is in an environment that is
  constantly threatening and unpredictable, the
  childs brain is in survival mode
• There is less activity in the cerebral cortex,
  making it harder for children to learn

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Stress and Learning
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How does stress affect the brain?

• Frequent activation of the stress response can
  lead to a heightened susceptibility to disorders.

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How does stress affect the brain?

• Positive parenting and care giving can mediate
  most of the effects of stress.

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Research on Stress and the Brain
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Neglect and Brain Development

• Conditions of extreme neglect and deprivation
  impact brain development
• Romanian orphanage conditions
• Low caregiver to infant ratios
• Little sensory stimulation
• Low human interaction
• Unsanitary

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Neglect and Brain Development
160
Neglect and Brain Development
Neglected
Normal
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Maternal Behaviour in Rats
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Stress and Memory
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Stress Levels in Childcare
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What else can go wrong?

• Other factors that affect brain development
• Brain injury (Shaken Baby Syndrome)
• Seizures
• Prenatal alcohol exposure
• Exposure to environmental toxins
• Illness

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Building Blocks and Patty Cake

• VII

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Overview

• Play is a Childs Work
• Factors that Affect Play
• Toy Revolution
• Brain Development Myths

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Play is a Childs Work
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Play is a childs work

• Play is often thought of as a break from
  learning
• For young children, play is how they learn
• Play is associated with healthy social,
  emotional, physical, and cognitive development

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Importance of play

• Most mammals play when they are young
• The complexity of play increases as primates grow
  and their brains develop
• Early games and interactions with other animals
  give them skills necessary for adult life

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Hunting
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Escaping
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What do humans practice?
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What skills does play develop?
Empathy
Attention span
Eye-hand coordination
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Visual tracking
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Cognitive and Language Skills

• Creative thinking
• Reasoning
• Problem-solving
• Planning and decision-making
• Listening
• Communicating

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Play Characteristics

• They type of play that is most beneficial to
  children lets them
• use their imaginations
• make decisions
• explore their surroundings
• It is important to provide children with a safe
  environment with supervision so they can engage
  in free, uninterrupted play.

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How do caregivers and early childhood
professionals support play?

• Give children free, uninterrupted blocks of time
  to play (with supervision)
• Supply them with various materials including
  building blocks, books, craft supplies, dress up
  clothes etc.
• Ensure the play space is safe, and enforce any
  safety rules
• Follow the childs lead, let them decide how they
  want the play to proceed

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Factors that Affect Play
178
Factors that affect play

• Although play is recognized as essential for all
  areas of development, there are many barriers to
  the amount of time available to children to
  engage in the type of play they need.
• What are some barriers to play?

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Factors that affect play

• Poverty, lack of resources and family support
• More structured activities (sports, lessons)
• Focus on academic activities for children
• Children are exposed to and surrounded by
  television and electronic games
• Fewer safe areas where children can play outside
  the home

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Toy Revolution
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Toy Revolution

• Young children do not need expensive, electronic,
  or complicated toys to play

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Toy Revolution

• Toys and playtime should be geared towards
  stimulating the 5 senses

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Children and Media Recommendations

• No child should have a TV, video game or computer
  in their room
• Limit TV viewing to 1-2 hrs/day
• Avoid using TV, video games or computers as a
  diversion, substitute teacher, or electronic
  nanny

184
Environments that Support Learning
185
Environments that Support Learning

• What characteristics support healthy development
  in early care and education settings?

186
Environments that Support Learning

• 1. Participation of parents and other primary
  caregivers
• Parents know intimate details about home
  environment
• Parents and early childhood educators can learn a
  lot from each other
• Environments should be welcoming for
  parents/caregivers

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Environments that Support Learning

• 2. Management of Sensory Stimulation
• Children learn through their senses
• Overstimulation can overwhelm a child
• Sensory stimulation should be considered during
  program planning

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Environments that Support Learning

• 3. Encouragement of Exploration
• Children need many opportunities to explore
• This can help children learn self-control and
  deal with frustration
• Exploring also stimulates the senses and helps
  children learn how to plan and problem solve

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Environments that Support Learning

• 4. Mentoring in basic skills
• Use opportunities to extend skills such as
  labeling, sorting, learning cause and effect,
  numbers and symbols

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Environments that Support Learning

• 5. Recognition and Celebration of Developmental
  Advances
• Children feel good about themselves and motivated
  when their accomplishments are celebrated
• Celebrating advances is also an opportunity for
  the child and caregiver to bond

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Environments that Support Learning

• 6. Guided Rehearsal and Extension of New Skills
• Once a child learns new skills, they need
  opportunities to rehearse and extend them

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Environments that Support Learning

• 7. Protection from Inappropriate Disapproval,
  Shaming, Teasing or Punishment
• Children are less able to manage stress and face
  challenges when they are faced with above
• They are also less likely to explore and practice
  new skills

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Environments that Support Learning

• 8. A Rich and Responsive Language Environment
• Children need to hear language and have many
  direct language experiences to learn how to
  communicate effectively

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The Best Toy

• The best toy for a child is a loving,
  nurturing, responsive caregiver and a safe
  environment to explore in.

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Review
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Brain Development Myths

• Nature vs. nurture debate
• Making babies smarter The Mozart Effect Baby
  Einstein
• Brains are developed at birth
• Children start learning when they begin school
• Talking to a baby is not important because they
  cannot understand what you are saying
• Others?