Brain Development
Did you know that by age three, a child’s brain is 80% of its adult size? Our brains are important to us because they are an essential part of life. The brain is what tells your body to work, think, and feel. Without a brain, we wouldn’t be alive. Although the brain is an essential part of our life at all ages, the early years of development establish the basic structure and function of the brain. To help understand just how import this time period of life is to our brains, you have to understand the development of the neural pathways, the brain functions of children ages 3-8, the impact of the environment on brain development, and the activities and environments that contribute to the brain development of children.
Neural
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Brain development undergoes some major changes between the ages of 3 and 8 years old in the prefrontal cortex, cognitive development, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and perceptual development. The prefrontal cortex is the highest level of the brain and develops very rapidly between the ages 3-6. This plays an important part in attention, memory, and self-regulation. The brain in cognitive development shows rapid increase in memory and learning abilities. The density of synapses peak at age 4. Gross and fine motor skills in the brain show tremendous progress in the early childhood …show more content…
Multiple factors can affect the brain development and health of your child and among these are the environment and activities you can do with children. If a child is brought up in an environment of poverty, they could experience more stress than other children because their needs may not be met of getting food, attention, trust, and socialization needed. In a life of poverty children may be neglected of their basic needs. This can be stressful and too much stress and when a child is stressed, their brain releases cortisol. If there is too much exposure of cortisol to the brain, it could cause developmental and cognitive delays later down the road. For instance, one kindergartener may start school knowing his ABC’s, how to count to 15, and how to write their first name, while the other student who had a completely different environment, may not talk to anyone, not know his colors, numbers, or how to spell his name. It is important to form a bond with your child and understand where they are at developmentally to help and encourage cognitive growth. Some activities you can do with children are talk and explain things, sing songs, identify noises, listen, ask appropriate questions, offer a variety of games, practice shapes and colors, read to them or have them read to you, and have different activities of different subjects like math, music, and science, to mix it up and keep the
Throughout and for many years there has been a lot of controversy on how to trial someone who has committed a crime under the age of 18. A lie will be a lie even if it 's serious or innocent and that 's why just like a crime will always be a crime, no matter what the situation is. The age of a person who has committed murder shouldn 't be an issue or a complication. Many advocate that the juvenile is just a child, but despised that I believe that is no justification or defense for anyone who does a crime. America and the nation need to apprehend that juveniles that are being conducted to life in prison is not just for one small incident or crime, but for several severe crimes according to Jennifer Jenkins, Juvenile Justice Information
As every child grows up in a different environment, not all have a safe one to grow up in and as a result everything that surrounds them becomes apart of the clarity that their mind incorporates and becomes apart of that child 's behavior of way. In terms of brain development children or teens often listen, and see what is around them, it is also said, by researchers of the National Institute of Health, that in recent studies that were made that in teen years massive loss of brain tissue...
Reinis, Stanislaw and Jerome M. Goldman. The Development of the Brain. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publishers, 1980.
During middle-to-late childhood, growth and development begins to slow down a bit. However, while the development may not be as rapid as it may have been in previous stages, it is more consistent and steady. The development that occurs during this stage begins to incorporate the skills learned in previous years, and the skills gained during this time are more applicable to real world situations. Cognitive development, intellectual development, and disabilities are key aspects to consider during this time.
It has been proven that a child’s early years are the peak at which the mind can bend and shape, creating the foundation for a life. We know now that even before birth, the mind is a delicate matter that if improperly taken care of could alter a person’s entire life. Nourishment and stimulation before and after the birth of a child mold’s the brain in its most malleable state. Medical and scientific institutes paired with parenting information organizations have made information readily available for parents, childcare providers, and students to advise them of the importance of childhood brain development. This information is not only critical for the child, but for the person they will become in the future.
Every day while they interact with and learn about their environment they are creating new connections and pathways between nerve cells both within their brains, and between their brains and bodies. While physical growth and change is easily observed and measured in precise terms such as in inches and pounds, cognitive change and development is a little harder to determine as
In the nonfiction article “The Teen Brain: Still under construction” by NIMH, the author believes the teen brain is still developing emotionally, intellectually, and hormonally.
The brain develops rapidly during childhood, and within the first ten years of development millions of brain cell connections are made which enable children to absorb information and learn complex skills which
With time and sufficient environmental exploration, regions become specialised and differentiated through the process of activity-dependent specialization, whereby-they interact and compete to acquire specialised computational abilities. Specialisation allows for faster and more efficient information processing and has been attributed to age and myelinisation, a process which allows nerve impulses to travel throughout the brain more quickly and efficiently, increasing integration of brain activity and supporting-efficient cognitive maturation. The general principle of structural brain development states areas related to simple functions reach full maturation faster than those supporting high-order complex-functions. Faster processing speed and lower mental effort via myelination enable automatic processing which is beneficial but only for older-children and adults who have mastered a particular behavioural or cognitive ability. In contrast, prolonged plasticity supports efficient cognitive development in young-children in two ways. Firstly, studies of adopted children with past experiences of maltreatment have shown that adoptees largely outperformed their peers left behind on cognitive tasks, provided being adopted at an early age (before 12 months of age). The fact-that adoption can be an effective intervention enabling significant cognitive catch-up demonstrates the benefits of plasticity during development (van Ijzendoorn & Juffer, 2006). Secondly, in the context of childhood learning, prolonged plasticity is considered beneficial, facilitating adaptive change and learning in response to environmental stimuli via formation of new neural connections (Anderson, 2011). Although time-consuming, effortful and non-automatic, non-differentiated learning protects children from premature acquisition of
"Brain." Critical Periods of Brain Growth and Cognitive Function in Children. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
The early stages of a child’s lifespan is the most crucial part of their overall development. “Brain and biological development during this time is influenced by an infant's environment”(Statistics
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In the developing stages of a child, psychological factors play a huge role in th...
Adults and teachers need to do everything possible to keep physical development from being delayed. Adults can provide children with opportunities to help them in development. By the age of three a child's brain is three quarters of its adult size. From infancy to the age of two development is very rapid (Santrock, 1996). For this reason it is essential for the child to be able to explore their world around them.
Rapid growth of the brain and nervous system continues during the early years of a child’s life, however because of birth defects or health problems some children may be at a risk of cognitive delays. Problems such as Autism, where children may have a difficult time with language skills and sensitivity to touch, behavioral problems, or chemical exposures can all affect a child’s cognitive development. For most children though with a proper diet and plenty of stimulation cognitive abilities will develop rapidly, and by about 7 years ones cognitive skills have become “functionally related to the elements of adult intelligence.”