If anyone actually gets the musical reference to this title, I have found my new BFF (not that it has ANYTHING to do with what I'm about to talk about).
So… let's consider this the first post of the "new" blog. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm going to be changing this blog to cover topics of all sorts in developmental psychology, not only sleep issues. The new look will actually take a few more weeks because I am a graphics dunce and completely clueless about blog design, so I'm hopefully getting some help with all that soon. Until then, let's just forge on and the pretty pictures around the posts will soon be more consistent with the actual content.
I've recently had a few emails asking about the effect of one thing or another on a baby's "brain" (for example, certain types of music, diet, lack of sleep). Neuroscience is so hot right now, both in the scientific world and the "lay person's" everyday world. There are tons and tons of new titles that seem to crop up everyday about how the brain is involved in all sorts of things we care about. I have a two-pronged reaction to all the neuroscience interest. On the one hand, I think it's great to integrate what we know about psychology, evolution, and biology, with what we could and should know about how the brain works. How could we go wrong with that general stance? On the other hand, I'm not all that starry-eyed about the results from brain research thus far on the most important issues in child development. In part, that's because we know SO VERY little about the most important processes in the brain and even less about those processes in children's brains. And I don't think we necessarily NEED to always go to what lights up in the brain to answer some of our most pressing questions about how children grow and flourish.
With that caveat in mind, let me tell you what DOES excite me about some developmental (child) neuroscience research. These ideas are not restricted to understanding children, but they're fascinating to think about in that context.
Brain Plasticity and Development
The general idea is that all of us are born with a very "plastic" brain; one that can be, and is, shaped by our everyday experiences. This may seem really obvious to some people, but for a long time, many scholars believed that we are born with a done-deal sculpted brain architecture. But that is SO FAR from the truth. The actual structure of the brain changes over development (not only how it functions, which also undergoes incredible changes). Some parts of the brain thicken in some places, other parts thin out or stretch out and so on. Even more importantly, the connections between neurons in the brain grown and change over development BASED ON EXPERIENCE. These changes begin at birth but they keep going until well into adulthood. During
the first couple of years of life, about 700 new neural connections are
formed EACH AND EVERY SECOND (the connections are called synapses). At the very beginning of life, there's a huge outpouring of new connections that are formed but, over time, these connections
are reduced (a process called "pruning"… think about your bushes and you'll get a good sense of this). What's really cool is that it is by this pruning process that we become more efficient thinking machines (just like when you prune bushes to try to get more nutrients to certain parts of a tree more efficiently). There's been a whole lot of emphasis recently by developmental psychologists on how important it is to provide children with rich early learning environments (both in the home and in daycares and nursery schools) and this is because these early experiences lay the foundation for the circuits that will be strengthened and those that will die off. In short, if young babies and toddlers aren't provided contexts in which they use certain brain circuits, they'll lose them, or those connection will weaken considerably. This isn't as scary as it might sound though. The VAST majority of parents and teachers are already providing these rich environments.
Here's one of the take-home messages about brain plasticity (there are many, and some are absolutely incredible): Early experiences lay the foundation for later ones and the more "basic" connections get built up to more complex ones. So, for example, from the very simple sensory (sight, sound) experiences and physical experiences (coordinating legs and arms, thumbs and mouths), children build more complex cognitive skills that get interlaced with emotional capacities in this incredibly intricate web.
This is seriously only the very tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can talk about when it comes to the developing brain. In the weeks to come, I'd like to show you some really amazing videos of the brain developing over childhood and adolescence and talk about what this means for how we structure our children's lives. HINT: I am not from the camp that believes you should be throwing a bunch of ultra complicated books, letters, numbers, Mozard CDs and French/Spanish flashcards at your babies so that their brains "develop" faster and more efficiently. In fact, playing (in its various forms of tickling, peek-a-boo, rattles, blocks, dolls, leggos, and so on) may be the best way young children develop the physical, cognitive and emotional skills they'll need throughout their lives.
If you're interested in reading more about brain plasticity (but not necessarily in the context of children), some of the better books out there, in my opinion, are Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself, Schwartz & Begley's The Mind and the Brain, Freeman's Societies of Brains, and Taylor's My Stroke of Insight (the last one I'm not happy with the "self help" aspect, but it's a FASCINATING story and the hard science is great).
So, what do you all think of this idea of brain plasticity? Is it sort of an obvious insight to you? Does it make you think differently at all about your little growing brain(s)? Does this stuff bore you to pieces? I realize that starting the first non-sleep post off with the brain is not the most "sexy" way to begin, but that's just what was on my mind today. What's on yours?
Tom Waits!
Melinda, you are FABULOUS.
I’ve been reading “What’s Going On In There” by Lise Eliot and I really enjoy it. So that’s another recommendation for your list of books.
The thing I find frustrating with these studies (actually, most studies that make their way into public consciousness) is that people automatically turn what is descriptive (that science is often _describing_ what is going on) into something prescriptive (what they should be doing with their babies), and then they make everyone else feel really guilty if they’re not doing the right thing. Also people feel bad if their baby isn’t the doing/being the “ideal” thing (“oh no, my baby doesn’t show the signs of plasticity, or resilience, or whatever positive thing these studies say that are good for babies). And people then start feeling really anxious about whether their babies are getting enough stimulation or learning enough skills to encourage brain plasticity. So, my response to these studies is that while they are really interesting, they don’t do much good to already-anxious parents (like myself).
I guess I just have to accept that evolution has selected for some pretty hardy traits in human beings and even if we don’t buy the right toys or do the right kinds of activities that our kids will be ok!
(I think that’s why I shied away from developmental psychology…because it made me feel like I had more control over my kids than I actually have!)
@Bonnie: I hear you. I really hope that my post didn’t trigger more guilt. Man… do I know guilt (It’s part of what bugged me so much about Weissbluth’s book: the not-so-veiled insinuation that if your kid isn’t napping for some prescribed length of time, you’re damaging his BRAIN! Ahhh!). In defense of the scientists, I think most of us (of course not all) are really interested in the descriptive and explanatory level and feel VERY wary when the media tries to press us into giving a one-liner about “what does it mean for raising our children.” But all the caveats and cautionary notes that we might try to include in our “public dissemination” often get thrown out because it doesn’t sell (products or articles/magazines/newspapers). I think the “they” that are making us feel guilt are those out for the big bucks. I think they are the WORST offenders; have you checked out a Today’s Parent article or ad lately? EVERYTHING is designed to make us feel like we should buy this or that or our children will be DUMB! UNCOORDINATED! SLEEPLESS! AGGRESSIVE! DEVIANT! SLOW! Whatever…
I’ll elaborate in a separate post because I think you bring up an important point: Our babies/children COME WITH these exquisitely plastic brains; evolution has selected for these incredibly receptive brains, but receptive to what? Surely not to “plan toys” and insanely expensive mobiles and baby mozart videos (not that there’s anything wrong with any of these things per se, but surely they are not NECESSARY for healthy development).
@Bella: Oh no, no criticism for academics – I am (hoping to become) one, and my husband is also in the academy, so we too are very wary of turning or descriptive research into prescription. In other words, I would much rather read the studies from the journals rather than read them from popular books (or even newspaper/magazine articles). The tricky thing is, like you said, that the “so what” answer that academics arrive at in their research is not the “so what” answer that sells. Arrgghh!!!!
I think as parents we are often presented with mixed messages of just how much control we have over our children. To say we have LOTS of control devastates some parents, while to say we have NO control also devastates other parents. And isn’t the research still pretty divided on the nature/nurture debate?
Also, culture places such a premium on the various kinds of intelligence (primarily IQ) and it makes parents feel like if they don’t try to encourage their child’s development, then their child will be totally stupid, never be able to support themselves, and never be happy. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt this way, Bella, but I used to have this major anxiety that my son will be stupid and do really badly in school. Like, being smart/doing well in school is such an identity that I grew up with (and hopefully will try to make a living out of), and to think that I could *hinder* the development of my son’s intelligence is is a HUGE burden to me. (I just had to come to terms with the fact that if my son wants to be a baker or a postman, it would be ok.)
It’s hard to be a parent with so much information!! I sometimes think it was easier in my grandmother’s generation – they just raised kids, and that was it. It wasn’t like buying the right toys or the right flash cards or whatever. My grandmothers raised some pretty amazing people. (Both of them also raised most of their grandchildren, myself included, and neither of them had formal schooling beyond grade school.) And we haven’t turned out so bad at all…
OT @Isabela LOL That made my day. . . let’s hear your other music recommendations. I’ve been a Tom Waits fan for years. I recently found Nick Cave and love the similar vibe.
For an on-topic comment, multiple children has been the biggest help in my own worry that *I* was affecting my child in any sort of worrisome way. I now believe that as long as you are providing normal needs that you are neither the cause nor the detriment to your child’s abilities. My three children are so different even though they have the same parents with the same basic upbringing and I am trying my best to stop trying to change their worrisome habits. I do think if we had the culture of years ago where children were so much more omnipresent that child-raising would not be so mysterious.