Understanding Changes to the Developing Brain Brainwave is an independent group of medical, legal and business people committed to giving NZ children the best start in life. Brainwave was formed in in 1998 (following the International Prevention Society Child Abuse Neglect congress) in response to new research on brain development which shows that the first three years of life are critical and have a life-long impact. Trustees and members include Judge Mick Brown, Judy Bailey, Dr Robin Fancourt, Dr Ian Hassall, Dr Simon Rowley, Lesley Max, Professor Elliot, Professor Richard Faull, Professor Peter Gluckman, Professor Anne Smith. Nathan Mikaere Wallis X Factor Education Ltd. xfactoreducation@gmail.com

1990’s The Decade of the Brain. Transcription genes/epigenetics 1990’s The Decade of the Brain * Transcription genes/epigenetics. * growth of cortex relationship-dependant * first three years the most important Cozolino, Louis (2006) The neuroscience of human relationships: Attachment and the developing social brain. New York, NY, US: W W Norton & Co. What can you do as a professional working with children and families ? It is never to late to change the life and world of a child…..and that’s encouraging. The brain does have the ability to change outside these critical times with intensive rehabilitation. This gives us a second chance to intervene and help these children to recover. This ability, however becomes more and more limited as time goes by. This is because the brain becomes less and less able to adapt. Early intervention is a child’s best hope. Many early childhood workers do not feel comfortable speaking out if they suspect abuse of neglect. They are often worried about being wrong, destroying the family or making it worse for the child. The difficulty is that the trauma or neglect will affect that child for the rest of his or her life. Children are extremely vulnerable to trauma and neglect as they are completely dependent on their parents. It is extremely rare for parents to report Don’t wait. Your intervention could save that child from a permanent brain disorder and a lifetime of problems and unhappiness. If you suspect abuse, trauma or neglect it is critical that you contact CYFS or the police as soon as you suspect it.

Perry’s Neurosequential Model Empathy Controlling yourself Literacy Emotional response Coordination Movement Heart rate Fight,flight,freeze So how does your child’s brain develop ? The design of the human brain is amazing. It is the brain’s ability to connect up after the child is born that gives the brain the flexibility it will need to enable her to adapt to her environment. Perry, B.D. (2002). Brain Structure and Function I: Basics of Organisation. Adapted in part from “Maltreated Children: Experience, Brain Development and the Next Generation (W.W. Norton & Company). 4

Cortex brainstem As one increases, the other declines – and vice versa High Activity Cortex brainstem Low Activity To really be using your cortex, your brainstem needs to be calm

Effects of Trauma, abuse and neglect on the developing brain Evidence suggests that the cortisol release in the stress response is what causes parts of the cortex to shrink (especially the temporal lobe / hippocampus) and also demyelination of certain more vulnerable pathways (loss of white matter) As a result, the more primitive brain begins to dominate. This scan shows decreased metabolic activity / function in the temporal lobes of an abused child.

The person on the right with much less activity in the neocortex (frontal cortex) was a multiple rapist and serial murderer. (red indicates high activity, blue low) Unreliable however because not all offenders will have such a concrete anomaly. Nor will those with this brain structure become murderers. Studies of chronic offenders do however confirm that as a group they are more likely to exhibit abnormalities on detailed neuro-imaging. Image from Raine, A. (2009). Murderous Minds: Can we see the mark of Cain? Accessed from http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id+3066 On 30/1/2011.

BRAIN CHILD NEEDS Adapted from: McCaleb, M. & Mikaere-Wallis, N. Relationship-shaping: Teacher consistency and implications for brain development. The First Years/Ngā Tau Tuatahi: New Zealand Infant and Toddler Education, 7(2), 21-25

exercise

Other Major Changes Melatonin (Sleep!) Facial expression Risk taking Peer Influence

Memory and Alcohol Image from Susan Tapert PhD. University of California, San Diego.

Work with the parietal lobe

Responding to Challenging Behaviour Pro social behaviours 3. Cognitive Training. Cognitive training Cortex ____________________________ Limbic __________ 2. Validation. Emotional validation attachment stress Mid brain ______ brainstem 1. Safety. Ensure well being and help to calm Survival/reptilian behaviours

Responding to Challenging Behaviour Pro social behaviours 4. Cognitive Training. Cognitive training Cortex ____________________________ Limbic __________ 3. Validation. Emotional validation attachment stress Mid brain ______ brainstem 2. Rhythm 1. Touch. Ensure well being and help to calm Survival/reptilian behaviours

Pinel, J. P. J. (2000). Biopsychology (4th ed. ) Boston: Allyn & Bacon Pinel, J.P.J. (2000). Biopsychology (4th ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon. p. 57.

If we imagine the brain as a garden.... Endorphins = Fertilizer Cortisol = weed killer

At birth At 6 years 14 years This illustrates histological slides – increasing density of synapses to age 3 then ‘pruning’ over the next 10 years. With pruning only the pathways used regularly and frequently remain and become hard wired. Those not used are lost. It becomes harder to recall, and the more mature brain is less sensitive to experience and less likely to change.