Secrets of the infant brain

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Auf April 29, 2023

Can a child’s brain be nurtured?

For
centuries, our society has used child-rearing techniques without being aware of their long-term effects on the developing brain. This was because, until not long ago, we could not see the effects of their actions in the child’s brain. We now know that the type of interaction between parents and their child can have long-lasting effects on function, as well as the chemical balance in the child’s brain.

Thanks to the development of neuroscience, CT images of the brain and years of research on the brains of primates (whose emotional brains have the same structure and chemical composition as ours), we have gained important information about the effects of different parenting methods on a child’s brain. Our parenting approach can visibly determine whether systems and chemicals in the brain will be activated to enable a child to enjoy an emotionally rich life.

The Dynamic Development of the Newborn Brain

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At
birth, babies have 200 billion brain cells that have not formed connections between each other in the higher structures of the brain. These connections will be largely responsible for a child’s emotional and social intelligence in the future, and it is these connections that we have so much influence over.

“Some adults stop in their emotional development at the stage of a child learning to walk”

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Did you know that the loss of nerve cells (neurons) is part of the brain’s natural formation process, which continues throughout life? Unneeded or unused cells are removed to strengthen key connections in the brain. At birth, we have 200 billion nerve cells, and by the time we are a year old, we have already lost eighty billion of them. By the time we are in our teens, we have 90 billion fewer cells; by the time we turn 35, we have 100 billion fewer, and by the time we are 70, we have 105 billion fewer. This is due to a phenomenon called “pruning of synapses.” – In a similar way, a rose bush is pruned to make it grow better.

We have such a great impact on a child’s emotional development because the first years of their life are a critical period of brain growth./strong>

As much as 90 percent of brain growth occurs during the first five years of life. During this important period of time, millions of connections in the brain are shaped, destroyed and modified under the influence of life experiences, particularly emotional relationships with adults.

The brain’s connections are formed, destroyed and modified by the impact of life experiences, especially emotional relationships with adults.

When a child is seven years old, this rapid brain-forming activity slows down. This is because more and more cells have a myelin sheath (myelin is a white substance made of proteins and fats that forms an insulating layer around brain cells). The myelin sheath aids communication between neurons. It also strengthens pathways in the brain, stabilizing them. This is the origin of the scientific truth often supported by the quote “Give us a child who is less than seven years old, and we will give you a formed human being.”

Parent-child bond

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Everything a toddler experiences in relationship with a parent shapes the connections between cells in their higher brain centers. The human brain is designed to adapt to the environment it finds itself in. This adaptability works to the advantage or disadvantage of children…

That’s why it matters how you listen to your child, how you play with him, how you embrace him, stimulate him, comfort him and treat him when he refuses to cooperate. It is these moments that can determine whether or not a child will flourish in the future. If you raise a child sensitive to his emotions, connections will be made in his brain that will enable him to: handle stress, form good relationships, deal with anger, show kindness, have the will to pursue ambitions and dreams, and experience strong, peaceful love.

A short lesson in anatomy, specifically about which structures are responsible for emotions .

The periaqueductal
cortex: plays a key role in effectively controlling strong feelings and inhibiting primitive impulses aroused by lower brain centers. It also helps children respond sensitively to other people, as well as read the signals they send.

The dorsolateral part of the prefrontal cortex is responsible for thinking and making choices.

Die
ventral-medial cortex is responsible for children’s ability to think about emotional experiences, as well as calming the lower centers when they enter an excited state.

The anterior cingulate cortex helps focus attention and listen to one’s own thoughts.

If a toddler does not receive sufficient support in dealing with the intense feelings aroused by the lower brain centers and primitive reflexes, his brain may not develop pathways to deal effectively with stressful situations. Later in life, it may fail to develop higher human tendencies, such as caring or the ability to think consciously about its feelings. CT images of the brain show that many progressive violent adults are still driven, as in infants, by old systems of anger/fear and defense/attack located deep in the mammalian brain. The pictures show too little activity in the higher brain centers that naturally regulate and modify raging feelings. Identical to babies learning to walk, these adults succumb to powerful emotions without the ability to calm themselves effectively.

Understanding this is important when we come into contact with a truly distraught, screaming child. It needs our help to calm down. Through consistently emotionally sensitive parenting, important pathways will begin to form in the child’s frontal lobes that will, over time, enable the child’s ability to self-soothe.

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Our advice for moms is authored by midwife Emilia Adamczyk of emilymed.co.uk, who is an expert in caring for toddlers and helping their moms. Sleepee co-creates its products in collaboration with Emilia to make them as safe, useful and quality as possible. Beautiful and durable they are by the way .

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