Discovering Your Baby’s Amazing Brain

By Mary Cullity

    Our brains are composed of a complex circuitry that is not yet fully understood by scientists and brain researchers. But what we have learned is fascinating and worth paying attention to if we want to give our children the best and most optimum experiences and become partners in the process of brain development.
    The story of the brain begins in the mother’s womb at just four weeks gestation when the first brain cells, called neurons, begin forming at the incredibly rapid rate of 250,000 cells per minute. Billions of these neurons will connect with other cells to form the “hard wiring” circuitry of the brain. These connections will regulate breathing and heartbeat, control reflexes such as the sucking and startle reflex, and many other basic functions the baby will need to survive outside the womb.
    This environment includes the mother’s internal environment before the baby is born. Being free of substances like tobacco, alcohol and drugs helps give the growing fetus the healthiest beginning. Good nutrition and having as stress-free an environment as possible while pregnant is also important.
    Much of the wiring, however, will not occur until after the baby is born. This is where nature and nurture join hands. As parents, this is where the environment that you provide for the child makes all the difference. As the infant brain continues to form connections between neurons, called synapses, in the first three years of life, the basic foundation for thinking, feeling and behavior is being laid. Connections must be made and then reinforced.
    The synapses are like branches that keep growing and connecting to others. This incredible synapse branching continues until about age 10, but slows down after age 3. This makes those first three years so important. Since more synapses are created than are needed a pruning process takes place between birth and age 3.
    During this pruning those synapses that have not been reinforced, are eliminated and the ones most used become a part of the permanent brain. It must be remembered also, that the brain is very plastic and adaptable. Connections and prunings will continue to happen with experience of the world as provided by parents and other caregivers.
    A warm, loving and responsive environment is best for optimal brain development. This involves a sort of dance of attunement between the caregiver and the infant in which the child’s cues are matched with the parent/caregiver response. This develops basic trust in the infant. The infant must learn how to get his/her needs met. When this is established, the infant can then focus more attention on exploring and learning about the world around him/her.
    What can parents and other caregivers do to be partners in this creative process happening in an infant’s brain? According to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, there are ten things that every child needs. They don’t cost money, but do mean time and involvement by the parents/caregivers. They are:
    1. Interaction
    2. Touch
    3. Stable relationship with loving adult
    4. Safe and healthy environment
    5. Self-esteem
    6. Quality child care
    7. Communication
    8. Play
    9. Music
    10. Reading

    Interaction is vital to early brain development. When a parent attends lovingly and warmly to a baby’s needs, basic trust develops. Babies make emotional connections and form attachment to the primary caregiver early in life. The limbic area of the brain is the area that will regulate emotions and stress responses later on, and may not be an area that is easily changed. Picking up and calming a crying baby, changing the diaper, feeding the baby, and rocking or patting the babies back are ways to soothe the baby’s stress and begin to help the baby regulate emotions.
    Touch is critical to development because it is how the infant knows they are loved. It is a source of comfort that sends a signal to the brain telling it to grow. It let’s the child know that they are wanted and it is worth surviving. Babies deprived of touch fail to thrive. Skin on skin contact such as that experienced during breastfeeding deeply comforts a baby and helps them feel secure. Gentle massage is also a nice way for a baby to feel loved.
    Stable relationships with a loving adult helps to let the child know that there will always be someone older and wiser looking out for them. This consistent presence of a loving caregiver reduces the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Secure care that is dependable and predictable helps the infant’s brain build tolerance for stress. In research by Megan Gunner of the University of Minnesota, it was found that frequent exposure to stressful events may affect the development of brain areas involved in memory, negative emotions and attention regulation.
    A safe and healthy environment at home is one that is free of hazards such as second-hand smoke, lead, or other contaminants and that is child-proofed according to the child’s age and activity level. A friendly and secure atmosphere provides the best environment for growing children.
    Self-esteem is the ability to feel good about yourself. Both parents and children need to master this. Encouraging children by being their best cheerleader helps them to be able to branch out and experience new things and make further brain connections.
    Another important thing that children need is quality child care. Positive and attentive care on a regular basis and healthy food, times of rest and activity by qualified child care personnel help a child to develop in a healthy manner.
    The last four areas consist of communication, play, music and reading. Infants respond with enjoyment when a parent/caregiver talks, plays, sings or reads to them. The more words a child hears, the more brain connections develop. They will imitate sounds made by an adult very early. Play is linked with mental growth and development and it is important for parents to play with their children. Music can be a source of comfort or stimulation and teaches language and rhythm. Singing to an infant can be very soothing. Reading encourages creativity, imagination and is just a nice time to snuggle your child and establish your relationship of unconditional love.

    Mary Cullity is a social worker with and coordinator of the Maternal & Child Health Program of Home Healthcare, Hospice & Community Services in Cheshire County. She is currently an MSW candidate at the University of NH, due to complete the program in 2009. She has extensive experience and training in child development, family support, mediation and is a partner in the Network for Children and Families.