What’s Good for our brains?

I love finding out how our brains work and develop. It’s very helpful to discover what are normal and healthy processes and how to support these best.

What’s happening in babies brains?

Babies brains begin to form within days of conception and by birth they have most of the brain cells but only 15% are connected to each other. Over the next 3 years the brain will form many connections. These connections enable the baby to use their senses, to learn and to think in a much more sophisticated way.

Connections are formed by babies’ daily experiences and their responses to them. Babies learn about the world through their senses. Experiences trigger electrical activity in the brain enabling connections to form and grow. The strongest connections are formed by the most often repeated activities, for example the knowledge, through repetition, that mum or dad will come when they cry or favourite songs or rhymes.

What conditions are necessary for babies’ brains to grow best? Firstly low stress and a healthy diet in pregnancy and then stimulation, in a loving, caring environment, for example talking, singing, playing, cuddles, letting them explore safely. Interestingly neuroscientists tell us it is impossible to spoil a baby – remember when we were told to let the baby cry? Now we know it’s best to attend to babies as often as possible because it’s good for their brains. We also now know that flashcards and educational games are much less effective than a loving and caring environment.

Babies develop the ability to be loving and empathic to others by experiencing these things themselves. The connections are made from this early stage.

A baby’s brain is equally vulnerable to neglect, abuse and trauma, which can have a severe affect on brain development. The brain connects up in an unhealthy way. Children who are affected in this way may be aggressive or withdrawn. It can also disrupt their ability to learn. When the amygdala, the reptile part of their brains, is fired up due to threat and fear the frontal cortex, where learning occurs, doesn’t get a chance to fire. This is why classrooms need to be calm and safe environments with calm teachers. We know that alcohol and drugs can cross the placenta and do damage to babies brains in utero. There is no safe amount of alcohol. These factors can affect individuals’ ability to reach their full potential.

What’s happening in teens brains?

They’re undergoing the next big period of development. Their brain connections are being pruned and made more efficient, ready for the adult world – the expression “use it or lose it” applies here. So we can expect teens to be slower absorbing our instructions to make their beds or do the dishes. Their inhibition machinery is still being developed so they can be impulsive. The connections between emotional experience and thinking processes are still being integrated so they may fire up quickly having misinterpreted an emotion in others. They definitely need to have their parents still involved and ready to coach them – we need to be their frontal cortex until theirs is fully operational. Of course this requires diplomacy and a respectful sense of humour.

What’s happening in aging brains?

Our brains do shrink with age – we lose neurons. Physical exercise and good mental health have been linked to brain health. One study found that older people who started aerobic workouts actually increased the volume of their brain matter. It’s helpful to enter old age with “cognitive reserves” – the idea of as good a brain as possible – which means we need to be working on this when we’re younger – learning languages and new skills. A brain expert I heard recently said it’s always possible to make positive changes in the brain and this is backed up by research which has found that teaching memory and thinking skills to seniors did make a difference as much as 5 years later.

The key ideas to takeaway from all this information are at any age if we don’t use it we’ll lose it. However with attention to physical and mental health, positive environments and stimulation our brains will keep developing and working well.

Recommended Reading:

• The Whole Brain Child, Daniel Siegel
• Rewire your Brain, John Arden
• The Primal Teen, Barbara Strauch