Nurturing the Developing Brain in Early Childhood

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Nurturing the Developing Brain in Early Childhood

• Lisa Freund, Ph.D.
• The National Institutes of Health
• The Eunice Kennedy Shriver
• National Institute of Child Health and Human
  Development
• Bethesda, Maryland
• U.S.A.

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The Brain is Still a Mystery
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Brain Growth
AGE BRAIN WEIGHT
(GRAMS) 20 WEEKS GESTATION 100 BIRTH 400 18
MONTHS 800 3 YEARS OLD
1100 ADULT 1300 - 1400
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The Neuron
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Brain Growth

• At birth, most neurons the brain will have are
  present
• approx. 100 billion neurons
• By age 2 years, brain is 80 of adult size
• What keeps growing?
• Other brain cells (glia)
• New neuron connections
• approx. 1000 trillion connections by age 3 yrs.

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How Does the Developing Brain Become Aware,
Learn, Think,?

• Overproduction of neurons and connections among
  neurons
• Selective reduction of neurons and connections
  among neurons
• Waves of intense branching and connecting
  followed by reduction in neurons
• Before birth through 3-years-old
• Again at 11- or 12-years-old

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MRI PICTURE OF A HEALTHY 13-YEAR-OLD BOY
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Major Areas of the Brain
Self-regulation, problem solving, goal setting,
social cognition
Sensory motor perception, spatial abilities
Hearing, language, memory, social -emotional
function
Vision and perception
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Cortical thickness development from birth to 54
mos
over
Months
6 mm
4.5 mm
3 mm
1.5 mm
1 mm
under
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Right lateral and top views of gray matter
maturation over the cortical surface.
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Right View of Gray Matter Maturation Over Brain
Surface between Ages 4 to 21 Years
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How Brain Areas are Developing

• Anatomical studies of brain development show
• Occipital lobes show earliest pruning
• Frontal and Temporal lobes show growth of neural
  connections longer than other areas of the
  brainthrough 3 years old
• Frontal and Temporal lobes show pruning of
  connections longer than other areas of the brain
• Greatest change between 2 years and 5 years

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Synaptic production and pruning correspond with
overall brain activity
Young childrens brains work harder and less
efficiently than adults
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Myelinization

• Speed of connection
• Begins at birth, rapidly increases to 2-years old
  
• Continues to increase more slowly through
  30-years-old

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Myelinization
Young childrens brains have fewer neuron
connections and work slower than adults
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How Brain Function is Developing

• Brain areas with longest periods of organization
  related to
• self-regulation,
• problem-solving,
• language/communication
• Social bonding
• Most vigorous growth, pruning, connecting, and
  activity occurs between 1-1/2 years through 3 or
  4 years old
• Neuroscience is telling us that this may be one
  of the most important periods for developing
  self-regulation, problem-solving,
  social-emotional, and language/communication
  behaviors

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Nature and Nurture

• Genes and environment interact throughout brain
  development
• Genes form neurons, connections among major brain
  regions
• Environment and experience refines the
  connections enhancing some connections while
  eliminating others

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Experience Can Change the Actual Structure of the
Brain

• Brain development is activity-dependent
• Every experience excites some neural circuits and
  leaves others alone
• Neural circuits used over and over strengthen,
  those that are not used are dropped resulting in
  pruning

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Differences in brain activity (colored areas)
between a typical child reader and a child with
reading difficulties
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Differences in brain activity in the same child
before and after specialized reading instruction
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Experience Can Change Brain Development

• The brain is undergoing explosive growth in the
  first years of life and needs organizing
  experiences to facilitate development.
• Learning results in more consolidation of
  neuronal activitybrain activity becomes more
  efficient

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Neglect Impedes Brain Development

• Limited exposure to language, touch or social
  interactions
• Emotional or cognitive neglect
• Structural Changes
• Lack of brain growth beyond effects of poor
  nutrition
• Neuronal death beyond pruning

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Brain activity of a normal 5-year-old child
(left) and a 5-year-old institutionalized
Romanian orphan who was neglected in infancy
(right).
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What early experiences promote healthy brain
development?

• Important areas of brain development are
  associated with
• Self-control or Self-regulation
• Language/communication
• Learning
• Social emotional function
• Research shows that everyday experiences with
  caregivers or other children can optimize the
  development in these areas

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Social Basis of Early Brain Development

• Early experiences create brain neuron connections
• Parent-child interactions are key
• And when are they most effective?
• Neuroscience and other research says between
  birth and 3 to 4-years old

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Self-Regulation

• Emotion Regulation
• Capacity to identify feelings
• Empathy
• Management of strong emotions
• Behavioral Inhibition
• Delay gratification
• Control impulses

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Self-Regulation

• Attention and Thinking Regulation (Executive
  Function)
• Directing attention
• Mental representation
• Planning
• Focus on goal
• Monitor actions information
• Correct actions
• Identify and use strategies

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Self-Regulation

• Early parent-child interactions lay basis of
  self-regulation skills that become internalized
  by the child
• Directing attention
• Identifying goals
• Monitoring Childs actions
• Correcting Childs actions
• Modeling strategies

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Parent-child Interaction with Infant or Toddler

• Parent who supports optimal development
• Is sensitive to childs cues
• Responds to childs distress
• Takes advantage of simple, everyday activities to
  stimulate learning

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Parent-child Interaction with Infant or Toddler

• The child can influence interaction through
• Clarity of his or her cues
• Responsiveness to parent
• Activity level

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Parent-child Interaction with 3- to 5-year-old

• With 3- to 5-year-old
• Directing attention
• Suggesting strategies
• Monitoring, evaluating actions
• Staying directed toward goal
• Feedback is less directive

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Reading Comprehension
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Scaffolding
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Research has Shown that Successful Scaffolding
Results in Healthy Brains Ready to Learn

• Faster rates of language learning
• Increased task persistence
• Increased self-control
• More appropriate requests for help
• Increased self-monitoring during tasks
• Increased ability to learn
• Moderates risk factors

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Implications for Early Education
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We Know that.

• Children show improved school achievement
• With planned, intentional instruction in the
  preschool years.
• When the literacy environment at home and in
  school can engage the child.
• With consistent reading aloud
• When preschool teachers receive high quality
  training.

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We know that

• Just as parents who provide scaffolding promote
  healthy development, so can pre-school teachers
  provide scaffolding in the classroom

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Classroom Scaffolding

• What types of teacher scaffolding can result in
  optimal outcomes for children?
• Providing print and materials that foster their
  understanding of concepts
• Responding to childrens requests and signals
  promptly and sensitively
• Maintaining and expanding on childrens interests
  in meaningful learning activities
• Providing children with choices and prompting
  children to make thoughtful decisions

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To Promote the Foundations for Reading

• Phonological awareness --ability to notice and
  work with the sounds in language.
• How quickly children learn to read depends on how
  much phonological awareness has developed during
  toddler and preschool years.

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To Promote Phonological Awareness

• Teachers and Parents can
• Chose books to read aloud that focus on sounds,
  rhyming, and alliteration
• Invite children to make up new verses of familiar
  words or songs by changing the beginning sounds
  of words
• Play games where children isolate the beginning
  sound in familiar words, and generate rhyming
  words

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Promote Knowledge of Letters

• Research shows it is important for young children
  to be able to
• Recognize and name letters
• Recognize beginning letters in familiar words
  (especially their own name)
• Recognize both capital and lowercase letters
• Relate some letters to the specific sounds they
  represent
• Teachers and parents can reinforce learning about
  letters by providing letters in a form children
  can touch, by playing games with letters, and by
  helping children write letters.

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Read Aloud To Promote Interest in Reading

• Establish a pattern of reading aloud frequently
  to children.
• Ask children questions as you read.
• Encourage children to talk about the book.
• Read aloud many kinds of books.
• Reread aloud favorite books.

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Teachers and Parents

• Research has shown
• preschools that support the parent in promoting
  the childs cognitive development and learning
  show greatest child achievement in elementary
  school and beyond

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