What Brain Science Tells Us about Why the Early Years are So Important Silvia A. Bunge, Ph.D. Professor in Psychology & Neuroscience University of California at Berkeley

Three Core Concepts of Development 1 Brain Architecture Is Established Early in Life and Supports Lifelong Learning, Behavior, and Health Stable, Caring Relationships and “Serve and Return” Interaction Shape Brain Architecture 2 Toxic Stress in the Early Years of Life Can Derail Healthy Development 3 Coming up next are three very short videos from the Center on the Developing Child. Each video shows the science behind one of these three core concepts in early childhood development. Together, they explain how we know that early experiences become built into our bodies and brains, for better or worse. Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011). http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/three_core_concepts/` Healthy Child Development

Brain architecture Early experiences build the ”foundation” of the maturing brain Fixing the foundation is harder once the house is built The early years of life matter because early experiences affect the architecture of the maturing brain. As it emerges, the quality of that architecture establishes either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the development and behavior that follows – (Adapted)

What affects child outcomes? Wrong question! “Nature” or “Nurture?” What we experience & what we do profoundly influence who we are & what we can achieve Of course, genes are important, but the environment regulates which genes are expressed & when Nature and Nurture Gene x environment interactions It’s nature and nurture.

Prenatal brain development Unfolds according to a master plan (regulated by genes) as long as there are no major threats to the fetus

Negative influences on prenatal brain development CHILD Research Center Negative influences on prenatal brain development Counterintuitive effects: e.g. alcohol vs. cocaine ---- Alcohol and other substances of abuse Severity of effects in adults may not predict effects on fetal development (Welch-Carre, 2005) Exposure to toxins Severe maternal stress Higher rates of ADHD and autism (Bevesdorf et al., 2005; Ronald et al., 2010) Nutrition Iron Folate Choline – may counter effects of alcohol exposure and improve cognitive outcomes in Down’s Syndrome

Brain development after birth The key structures are in place Very few neurons are created after around age 1 But the brain keeps growing... So, what changes?

A closer look at the brain

Synapses: points of communication between neurons The brain has trillions of synapses – and a 1-year-old has far more than an adult! Babies form new brain connections very rapidly, & have a remarkable capacity to learn from their surroundings (for better and for worse)

Brain plasticity Plasticity (noun): The quality of being easily shaped or molded The adaptability of an organism to changes in its environment Sculpture is called a ‘plastic art’ The developing brain is remarkably plastic; this is the source of both its power & its vulnerability

Environmental influences on child brain development Some are strongly related to income

Brain structure is related to socioeconomic status Experiences of higher vs. lower SES children differ along many dimensions Multiple studies show brain differences - on average Gray matter volume at age 3 Adapted from Hanson et al., PLoS One, 2013

White matter pathways are strengthened over childhood, building brain networks Blue: language-related pathway Yellow: motor pathway

Windows of maximal brain plasticity A cognitive system is most sensitive to experience while the underlying brain circuitry is developing Higher Cognitive Functions (Self-regulation, memory, reasoning, decision-making) Language Sensory Pathways Basic Emotions Critical or Sensitive periods This conceptual graph shows how different sets of skills develop at different times in the brain, and how more complex skills build on the more basic skills that came before. Circuits build on circuits, and skills beget skills. Note that the prenatal period and first year of life are extended in this graph to show more clearly how much growth occurs in this time frame. Note that the rapid proliferation of neural connections is followed by a drop-off – that’s the natural process of pruning, which helps the brain become more efficient by eliminating connections that are not being used. This is critical when we consider the timing of our public investments—the brain is doing its formative building and even pruning at a very young age, even before public school begins. It’s critical for those circuits that are supposed to be built at each stage to be used well and frequently for them to provide a strong foundation for the more complex circuits that come later. Source: Nelson, C.A. (2000). Change and continuity in neurobehavioral development. Infant Behavior and Development, 22, 415–429. -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Birth (Months) (Years) Adapted from Nelson, 2000

A critical period for visual development Children born with cataracts in both eyes are heavily visually impaired or blind… UNLESS the cataracts are operated on right away They should be removed by 8 weeks of age to achieve the best visual outcomes (American Academy of Opthalmology) As science & medicine continue to advance, it may become possible to restore vision later… BUT it will be more effortful & have a lower chance of success than if the problem is addressed early

A critical period for socioemotional development CHILD Research Center A critical period for socioemotional development The early environment particularly affects early-developing functions. For example, basic emotional processing is carried out by early-developing structures deep in the brain, like the amygdala. Neglectful or abusive caregiving in the first few years of life has profound, long-lasting effects because it perturbs the development of this system Tottenham & Gabard-Durnham, Curr Op Psych, 2017 The brain network underlying attachment & socio-emotional functioning can be profoundly affected by neglectful or abusive caregiving in the first few years of life (Nelson, Fox, and Zeaneh, Romania’s Abandoned Children, 2014)

Three Core Concepts of Development 1 Brain Architecture Is Established Early in Life and Supports Lifelong Learning, Behavior, and Health 2 Stable, Caring Relationships and “Serve and Return” Interaction Shape Brain Architecture 3 Toxic Stress in the Early Years of Life Can Derail Healthy Development Coming up next are three very short videos from the Center on the Developing Child. Each video shows the science behind one of these three core concepts in early childhood development. Together, they explain how we know that early experiences become built into our bodies and brains, for better or worse. Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011). http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/three_core_concepts/` Healthy Child Development

Relationships are profoundly important for shaping brain architecture Young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond in kind These “serve and return" interactions are essential for healthy brain development We need systems that support the quality of relationships in early care settings, communities, and homes Coming up next are three very short videos from the Center on the Developing Child. Each video shows the science behind one of these three core concepts in early childhood development. Together, they explain how we know that early experiences become built into our bodies and brains, for better or worse. Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011). http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/three_core_concepts/`

“Serve-and-return” shapes brain architecture White matter pathways are shaped by language exposure at home Recorded communication in the home for a weekend 4-6-year-olds who had more “conversational turns” with adults have stronger white matter integrity in language-related white matter pathways parents recorded two consecutive weekend days of audio from the child’s perspective via the Language Environmental Analysis (LENA) Pro system (Gilkerson et al., 2017). LENA software automatically processes the recordings and estimates the number of words spoken by an adult in the child’s vicinity (“adult words), the number of utterances the key child made (“child utterances”), and the number of dyadic conversational turns, defined as a discrete pair of consecutive adult and child utterances in any order, with no more than 5 s of separation (“conversational turns”). As such, conversational turns measure the contiguous, linguistic interaction between children and adults. Running totals for each speech category were calculated for each consecutive 60 min across the 2 d in 5 min increments (e.g., 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M., 7:05 A.M. to 8:05 A.M., etc.), and the per-participant highest hourly total of adult words, child Romeo et al., J Neurosci, 2018

Three Core Concepts of Development 1 Brain Architecture Is Established Early in Life and Supports Lifelong Learning, Behavior, and Health 2 Stable, Caring Relationships and “Serve and Return” Interaction Shape Brain Architecture Toxic Stress in the Early Years of Life Can Derail Healthy Development 3 Coming up next are three very short videos from the Center on the Developing Child. Each video shows the science behind one of these three core concepts in early childhood development. Together, they explain how we know that early experiences become built into our bodies and brains, for better or worse. Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011). http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/three_core_concepts/` Healthy Child Development

Toxic stress affects the developing brain Learning how to cope with moderate, short-lived stress can build a healthy stress response system Toxic stress—when the body’s stress response system is activated excessively—can weaken developing brain architecture Without caring adults to buffer children, toxic stress associated with extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal depression can have long-term consequences for learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health Introduction: This final 90-second video shows what the biology of adversity can tell us now about how healthy development can be derailed, which can lead to lifelong consequences like those depicted in previous slides. Key points: Learning how to cope with adversity is an important part of healthy development. While moderate, short-lived stress responses in the body can promote growth, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system in the absence of protective adult support. Without caring adults to buffer children, the unrelenting stress caused by extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal depression can weaken the architecture of the developing brain, with long-term consequences for learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health. Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011). http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu

Keys to Healthy Development A balanced approach to emotional, social, cognitive, and language development, starting in the earliest years of life Supportive relationships and positive learning experiences that begin with parents but are strengthened by others outside the home Because the areas of the brain dedicated to language and other cognitive functions are interconnected with those devoted to emotions and behavioral control, so should our early learning and child development programs take a balanced approach to emotional, social, cognitive, and language development, rather than emphasizing just one area.   Because supportive relationships with adults and serve & return interaction build brain architecture, it’s critical that we support the ability of parents and other caregivers to provide those relationships and learning experiences for young children. And because toxic stress can actually derail developing brain architecture, it’s especially important that we intervene early to ease possible sources of toxic stress and buffer children from it.  Highly specialized interventions as early as possible for children and families experiencing significant adversity

And of course there is a lot more on both the science of development and interventions at the Center’s web site. www.developingchild.harvard.edu