Brain Development

"When a baby comes into the world her brain is a jumble of neurons, all waiting to be woven into the intricate tapestry of the mind. Some of the neurons have already been hard-wired by the genes in the fertilized egg into circuits that command breathing or control heartbeat, regulate body temperature or produce reflexes. But trillions upon trillions more are like the Pentium chips in a computer before the factory preloads the software. They are pure and of almost infinite potential." (Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)

As break-through research makes us aware of the incredible potential and advantages of brain development and early learning, we must also consider what happens to children that do not have such advantages.  What happens to children that are subjected to the absence of love, nurturing, and attention?  Taken one step further, what happens to children that are abused and neglected?

As we become more aware of the lasting impacts (good and bad) that we  have on children, it becomes imperative that we reach out and nurture them. This could be a real commitment, such as being a foster parent or mentor; or it could be as simple and uncomplicated as recognizing something positive a teenager has done, or reading to a child.

It is important is that we recognize the needs of children, that we give of ourselves, and through repetition these acts of kindness become a way of life.

"Once viewed as genetically programmed, the brain is now known to be plastic, an organ molded by both genes and experience throughout life. ...researchers are finding that abuse and neglect early in life can have even more devastating consequences, tangling both the chemistry and the architecture of children’s brains and leaving them at risk for drug abuse, teen pregnancy and psychiatric problems later in life. (The biology of soul murder , U.S. News & World Report, November 11, 1996)

"Yet the brain’s plasticity also holds out the chance that positive experiences - psychotherapy, mentoring, loving relationships - might ameliorate some of the damage." (The biology of soul murder , U.S. News & World Report, November 11, 1996)

"Abused kids continually scan their surroundings for danger and overinterpret the actions of others. An innocent playground bump may be seen as a direct threat. And as many as half of children from some violent neighborhoods show symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), compared with about 6 percent of the general population." (The biology of soul murder , U.S. News & World Report, November 11, 1996)

"Perry (Bruce Perry, a child psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital and at Baylor College of Medicine) has found that in a group of neglected children, the cortex, or thinking part of the brain is 20% smaller on average than in a control group. (The biology of soul murder , U.S. News & World Report, November 11, 1996)

"Frank Putnam (child psychiatrist at National Institute of Mental Health) has tracked 90 sexually abused girls comparing them to a control group who were not abused. The abused girls were more likely to evidence depression and suicide attempts and many showed the beginnings of PTSD, including anxiety attacks and abnormal levels of cortisol, which are also seen in combat veterans. Putnam also found a decline in the abused girls’ IQ over time. Saddest of all, the abused girls are rated by their teachers as not very likeable. ‘That’s tragic’ says Putnam, ‘because the one place where they might find some support is at school.’ Indeed, for some children, a loving adult can serve as a powerful antidote to abuse and neglect. Infants and young children normally learn from a comforting caretaker how to soothe themselves, thereby regulating their stress response and cortisol levels. Researchers now believe loving relationships also can help older children reset their responses to stress when it has been derailed by abuse." (The biology of soul murder , U.S. News & World Report, November 11, 1996)

"For every child who finds help at a clinic like Perry’s, there are dozens who fall through the cracks. Only a fraction of the millions of children who are mistreated each year receive the kind of help that can reverse the underlying physiological changes they suffer. Ultimately, says McLean’s Teicher, failing these kids may be shortsighted. They are less likely to live up to their economic potential, and more likely to wind up in prison, on drugs, or in psychiatric units be says. ‘The cost on society of having a child who has gone through abuse is enormous.’" (The biology of soul murder , U.S. News & World Report, November 11, 1996)

"...we do know that in the first two years of life, a baby’s brain is being programmed for the learning she’ll do during the rest of her life. Says Pasco Rakie, M.D., professor of neuroscience at Yale University. Researchers are finding that your role as a parent is vital, and that for the most part, your instinctive responses encourage and support the miraculous progress of your baby’s mental growth." (Your baby’s brain, Working Mother, November 1996)

"If the neurons are used they become integrated into the circuitry of the brain by connecting to other neurons; if they are not used, they may die. It is the experiences of childhood determining which neurons are used that wire the circuits of the brain as surely as a programmer at a keyboard reconfigures the circuits in a computer." (Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)

"Early experiences are so powerful says pediatric neurobiologist Harry Chugani of Wayne State University, that ‘they can completely change the way a person turns out.’" (Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)

"The implications of this new understanding are at once promising and disturbing. They suggest that, with the right input at the right time, almost anything is possible. But they imply, too, that if you miss the window you’re playing with a handicap. (Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)

"Infants whose mothers spoke to them a lot knew 131 more words at 20 months than did babies of more taciturn or less involved mothers; at 24 months, the gap had widened to 295 words." (Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)

"Plato once said that music ‘is a more potent instrument than any other for education.’ Now scientists know why. Music, they believe, trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine studied the power of music by observing two groups of preschoolers. One group took piano lessons and sang daily in chorus. The other did not. After eight months the musical 3-year-olds were expert puzzlemasters scoring 80 percent higher than their playmates did in spatial intelligence - the ability to visualize the world accurately." Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)

"People obviously continue learning their whole lives, but the optimum ‘windows of opportunity for learning’ last until about the age of 10 or 12 says Harry Chugani of Wayne State University’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan." (Your Child’s Brain, Newsweek, February 19, 1996)