Early brain development sets the stage for the child's physical, emotional and mental health in later life. In the past 15 years, we have discovered much about the brain's plastic and malleable nature, specifically its ability to develop new circuitry in response to experience.
Contrary to the well-used adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, neuroscientists are discovering that the immense formative power of the brain is infinite; it can change, even in old age, if it is given proper encouragement and stimulation.
A child's brain is even more malleable, which means that every experience in early life has a significant impact on brain development. Growth in the brain is predicated on neural connections that create neural pathways within the nervous system. Connections evolve into wiring or circuitry that define the experiences and potential of a child.
When the brain is given stimulus, connections proliferate and learning increases. When the child is traumatized or neglected, the neural pathways die resulting in a brain that is shrunken and compromised.
What are the effects of trauma and stress on early brain development?
Stress Creates a Maladaptive Response
Animal studies show that rat pups subjected to stress and neglect developed an over compensating stress response that usually lasted into adulthood.
Laboratory rats raised in shoebox cages with little or no stimulation have been compared with rats raised in an enriched environment of grooming and play. The privileged rats consistently developed a thicker cerebral cortex and denser neural networks than the deprived rats.
The same situation is found in children. Persistent stress in early brain development have resulted in children with smaller corpus callosum than their normal counterparts. Persistent stress and abuse not only increases the release of cortisol and dopamine, promoting the body's fight or flight response, it rewires the brain for a chronic state of fear, depression and anxiety.
This maladaptive response creates a brain on hyper alert for danger. The result is the child's inability to function normally in the world, even when he is placed in a nurturing and empathetic setting. With his brain stuck in the danger zone, this child will have difficulty developing higher thinking skills or wiring for experiences of trust and love. The child remains trapped in hostility and aggression.
Subconscious Programming and Early Brain Development
This entrapment, says Bruce Lipton Ph.D. is often caused by well-meaning but unconscious parents who are not aware of the impact their words, criticisms, outbursts can have on their children. In his book, The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles ( Santa Rosa, CA:Mountain of Lovce/Elite Books, 2005), Lipton claims that the parents' response to their offspring can program the child's brain for success or failure.
The reason is that between birth and 6 years of age, the human brain operates mainly at the EEG brain frequencies of delta and theta waves. These are slow, low frequency brain waves associated with a highly suggestible and programmable state.
What this means is that all information and experiences encountered by a child between birth and 6 become instantly "downloaded" into the child's subconscious mind. There is no buffer between these experiences or beliefs and the internal reception of the child.
Once programmed into the subconscious mind, these beliefs control the child's biology for the rest of his life unless he works consciously to free himself from their influence. " A child who is told he "will never amount to anything" will become that which he has heard and internalized; by the same token, a child who is told he can do whatever he sets his mind to will experience a stronger sense of benevolent destiny.
Intervention Can Reverse Negative Programming
Does that mean we are forever doomed by a traumatic or not so magical childhood?
Not so, says J.F. Mustard who refers to research that shows even children stunted at birth can "approach the performance of control children after 24 months" of intervention provided they are given proper nutrition and stimulation at birth.
Studies of Romanian orphans also indicate that the earlier these orphans are adopted, the more normal their cognitive functioning will be when they get older. Orphans adopted at four months fared much better than those adopted at 8 months or older. When these children were tested at 11 years of age, those adopted at 8 months or older showed a greater incidence of abnormal brain development and abnormal behavior ( ADHD, aggression) than the younger group.
The earlier the intervention, the stronger the likelihood that the negative programming these children internalized during their early brain development can be rewired and reversed.
No one is trapped by his early programming. Adults, even seniors, have the ability to reverse brain circuitry. In his book, The Brain that Changes Itself(Toronto:Viking Penguin, 2007), Norman Doidge relates the case of a young woman diagnosed from childhood as learning disabled. Yet this young woman was able to retrain her brain with specific exercises designed to compensate for her mental deficits. She is now an educator and Principal of the world renowned Arrowsmith School in Toronto.
In the same vein, Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz was able to help his adult OCD patients change their obsessive compulsive behavior by teaching them how to actively rewire their brains through mental power, the power of neuroplasticity.
Given the neuroplastic nature of our brain, we can no longer see ourselves as victims of the programming we received during our early brain development. Lipton urges us to use our conscious mind that offers us free will. Our conscious mind can stop the undesired behavior and create a new response.
Sources:
- Gunnar M.R., A. Herrera and C.E. Hostinar. "Stress and Early Brain Development." Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. Centre of Excellence for Early childhood Development. Published online June 10 2009. Accessed October 26 2010.
- Mustard, J. Fraser. "Early Brain Development and Human Development." Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. Centre of Excellence for Early childhood Development. Published online February 17, 2010. Accessed October 26 2010.
- Schwartz, Jeffrey M. and Sharon Begley. The Mind and the Brain:Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
Mary Desaulniers - I am a retired teacher and grandmother looking forward to the next 30 or more years with great relish and enthusiasm. My passions are ...
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