Brain development from the prenatal period through adolescence is an extremely significant process, the outcomes of which can have severe impacts on further experiences and behaviors of people. There are many interesting and even unbelievable aspects of brain development. For example, positive relationships between children and adults promote better brain development. This fact is interesting because not all parents pay attention to the way they treat their kids, while this is actually the most significant aspect of a child’s brain development. Trusting, encouraging, and caring attitudes from parents ensure more effective outcomes.
Another interesting aspect is that experiences before and right after birth get into people’s bodies and shape their learning capacities, mental and physical health, and behaviors. This fact is also important because some careless women do not pay attention to their behavior during pregnancy, and some parents consider early communication with their newborns insignificant. Consequently, these children’s chances to develop effectively are reduced by their mothers and fathers.
One of the most important brain developments concepts is neuroplasticity, which is the ability of experiences to impact the structure and activity of the brain. Kids’ developing brains are ready to absorb experiences, and both adverse and positive ones have severe effects. For instance, early childhood abuse can alter cognitive development, and the kid will later have weakened attention skills and memory. Another example of adverse influence is when constant exposure to stressful circumstances in the early years of life (parents’ arguments, bullying at school or in kindergarten, or inability to make even simple choices) may result in slower information processing. At the same time, supportive relationships with parents promote the brain’s ability to manage emotions and stress. Another positive influence is made by parents allowing their kids to make simple choices, which fosters their decision making.
Researchers find a lot of interesting information about neuroplasticity and say that this concept can be practically applied to furthering positive brain and behavioral outcomes. For instance, as noticed by DeMaster et al. (2019), “enriching experiences, such as optimal nutrition and highly responsive caregiving, might be leveraged as potential neuroprotective factors” supporting brain development of preterm children (p. 168). Neuroplasticity mitigates motor, language, and self-regulation deficits, so it is vital for parents to provide their children with positive experiences.
Reference
DeMaster, D., Bick, J., Johnson, U., Montroy, J. J., Landry, S., & Duncan, A. F. (2019). Nurturing the preterm infant brain: Leveraging neuroplasticity to improve neurobehavioral outcomes.Pediatric Research, 85(2), 166-175. Web.