Early Social Adversity

An explanation of the impact of current research into development and learning of babies and young children.

Between 6-9 months the baby’s brain will start to develop faster and faster at any other time during their life. Their memory will become quite strong they will repeat things over and over again. They will also learn what they are hearing which could be songs or rhymes or whilst they are being spoken to by parents siblings or strangers.

Babies prefer the sound of humans interacting to other sounds and from this, they quickly learn to recognise and identify their mother’s voice. Babies form their first relationship through emotional attachments with their mother or main carer. The first year of a baby’s life is a period of incredible growth, and a baby’s brain goes through critical periods during which stimulation is needed for proper development. During the babies first years, visual stimuli or verbal language is necessary for areas of the brain to grow and without this growth, a child’s vision or speaking abilities might be impaired. Infants tend to have different cries for hunger or pain, as well as making other noises. These abilities show your child is gaining communication and pre-language skills. Infants from birth to 6 months will forget about objects they cannot see however they begin to explore objects they can see and grab by putting them in their mouths. They will also follow moving objects with their eyes and look around at nearby objects. Infants in this stage will turn to look at a source of sound. These developmental milestones show a baby’s brain is developing and they are gaining new skills. From 7 to 12 months, infants also learn the idea of cause and effect, and they might repeat an action that causes a

* First, studies have shown that aspects of experience can sculpt features of brain structure.

The babies communicate using pictures and emotional feelings to the others but is hard for them to communicate in this manner so they try to use their linguistic abilities.

The book The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, written by Dr. Norman Doidge, provides different intimate experiences from people that received help through neuroplasticity exercises. Each story describes how the brain is able to readjust itself. Brain plasticity can physically modify the brain by uncovering rewarding and tragic experiences. Changes in the brain can also occur as we age. Throughout the reading I learned several knowledgeable facts I did not know before. Some being the transcription and template functions, and the effects memory and learning have on the transformation of the brain over time. Another was Jordan Grafman’s research on the four kinds of plasticity; map expansion, sensory reassignment, compensatory masquerade, and mirror region takeover.

The extent of nature and nurture on the development of the human brain has long been studied by neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists. Up to what degree does each variable play in each function of the brain? A group of psychologists recently conducted the largest correlational study looking for the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) of a family and its effects on the brain morphology and behavior of the children raised in them. Socioeconomic disparities have been shown to have profound effect on the cognitive development of a child, but this study went beyond the behavioral effects to the anatomical effects of one’s SES. Similar studies have looked at the anatomical differences among various race/ethnic groups but no study has been done linking socioeconomic status-parental education and family income specifically. This was the first attempt to separate these two variable and look at their correlation with cognitive development.

Infant learning and brain development is fragile and contingent upon numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most critical time frame for infant brain development is from the second trimester to the first three months of life (Marshall, 2011). During this time, neural pathways are forming, areas of the brain are maturing, and brain development is rapid. From infancy until the age of 3 years, neural pathways are still being formed in response to stimulation and for this reason, it is extremely important for caregivers and parents to be aware of the many factors that can influence brain development in infants (Marshall, 2011).

The definition of early life as a social determinant of health given by Rumbold and Dickson-Swift is “A good start in life means supporting mothers and young children.” (Rumbold & Dickson-Swift, 2012, p. 180). Early life describes the period from prenatal development to eight years of age, and is a time of remarkable brain growth and development, this period establishes the foundations for subsequent development and learning (Siddiqi, Irwin, & Hertzman, 2007).

Research has shown that the way the caregiver and infant interact has a significant effect on the maturation of the infant's nervous system,

In chapter eight of Siegel’s book, we are introduced to the curious neuroplasticity mechanisms. Neuroplasticity is defined as “the ability of the brain to change its structure in response to experience” (Siegel, 2012, p. 8-1). What a beautiful and profound ability! Our brains are not rigid structures that come pre-assembled and ready for use. Our

Advancement made in regard to cognitive neuroscience has enabled a better understanding of the cognitive processes in infants. Studies have indicated that cognitive development in infants starts before they are born. In the eighth week of pregnancy, fetuses have the ability to hear. They become accustomed to their

Where I live, socioeconomic adversity is not an issue. Sure, there are some students who wear designer clothes every day and others who get all their clothes from Goodwill, but it does not affect the way we treat each other.

The brain is such a complete organ in the body. The fact that as newborn we have about seventy percent of our neurons in the cortex in amazing. With all the feeling and sensory going on in the cortex it begins to make sense why young children show so many different emotions in such short periods of time as well as sensory “overload” or being overstimulated.

During the first two years the brain is the most flexible and prepared to learn. At this time everything is new. Everything an infant does build brain connections. According to EDUCARER.org "Touch, talking and things an infant sees and smells all build connections if done with continuity in a loving, consistent, and