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Brain Development (Summary ( The brain directs the course of overall…
Brain Development
Summary
The brain directs the course of overall development and responds to environmental stimuli to promote its own growth
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Growth spurts in the brain coincide with milestones in thinking abilities and physical coordination abilities
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Age Related Development
Infancy
The infant brain readily absorbs sensory information but is also active in sorting and understanding this information
There is a significant difference between the brain development of an infant raised in a normal, caring environment and that of a child who has experiences of abuse or neglect
From late in pregnancy to two years of age is known as a critical period or optimal period of brain development. The quality of life experiences as an infant in particular, develop a warmth and security in relationships with caregivers, known as the attachment relationship and is critical for the development of social and emotional processing centres of the brain
The growth of the executive functioning abilities requires a range of early childhood experiences that allow executive skills to be tested within a caring and regulated environment. A number of studies have shown that a very dysfunctional (unregulated) and stressful early life environment lead to a type of toxic stress that actually inhibits executive functioning
The growth of the executive functioning abilities requires a range of early childhood experiences that allow executive skills to be tested within a caring and regulated environment. A number of studies have shown that a very dysfunctional (unregulated) and stressful early life environment lead to a type of toxic stress that actually inhibits executive functioning
Adolescence
As the cerebral cortex completes development, a process of synapse pruning begins, resulting in an adult brain that is actually less dense in grey matter than the childhood brain
The prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain to develop around 25 years of age but recent research also tells us that the male brain completes its development slightly later than the female brain
The prefrontal cortex has importance for executive functioning therefore the slow development of that part of the brain means that even adolescents still have limitations in their thinking and reasoning skills
The reward circuits of the brain develop relatively early therefore it is thought that is why adolescents become involved in risk-taking activities but not all adolescents participate in risk taking behaviour, such as binge drinking and physically aggressive behaviour. It may be that early life experiences shape and set the foundations for problematic behaviour.
• Studies of the cognitive function of teenage drinkers show deficiencies in executive functions such as memory, attention, future planning and abstract reasoning. Memory deficits in teenage drinkers is likely to be associated with a shrunken or underdeveloped hippocampus
Due to the critical period of brain development , the adolescent brain is especially vulnerable to injuries that tend to result in much more severe damage to brain architecture and a lesser chance of a full recovery than might have occurred earlier in life. The continuing plasticity of the brain as it goes into young adulthood also raises significant concerns about protecting the brain from harmful substances for as long as possible e.g. drugs and alcohol
In adolescence, executive functioning skills in shifting and maintaining attention, improve. Memory skills improve, and the adolescent has a greater capacity to hold something in mind while they do another task or try to solve another part of the problem
Middle Childhood
The brain continues to grow and develop through childhood and into adulthood. In middle childhood executive functioning skills continue to improve as networks and interconnections between parts of the brain grow stronger through myelination
By the end of childhood the brain has reached 90% of its adult size. Middle childhood is the period in which many developmental differences in functioning between children are observed. Teachers can observe conditions such as ADHD and other learning problems during this age. This may be due to the slower maturation of the prefrontal cortex
Brain development in middle childhood is the expression and refinement of the processes started in early childhood
Studies have also shown the clear capacity of the human brain to improve and adapt beyond early childhood, enabling some improvement in cognitive function into middle childhood.
Brain Structure
Internal
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Mid-brain area are very small structures that take in sensory information such as sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch
Limbic system is critical to the regulation and control of drives and responses to the body as well as emotional responses and memory
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External
The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of the brain which is responsible for human intelligence and is the largest and last area of the brain to complete development and is considered the most important contributor to children’s cognitive functioning
One of the most important specialisations of the brain is known as lateralisation, in which two hemispheres of the brain specialise in different functions. For example, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. The left region of the brain is associated with language development
There is a connectedness between parts of the brain. Most activities require co-ordination from both sides of the brain.
Importance
One dimension of physical development that is particularly important in the learning and teaching processes is brain development
• The brain directs the course of overall development and responds to environmental stimuli to promote its own growth
Motor skill development is also controlled by neurological growth. As the speed and efficiency of information processing improves, this enables children to intentionally control and combine movements
Structure Development
The development of the brain begins in the earliest stages of life, soon after conception. Neurons or nerve cells develop and are responsible for storing and transmitting messages throughout the brain system
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Neurons transmit information via an axon. Information travels as an electrical impulse along the axon, and then crosses a gap called the synapse by means of a chemical neurotransmitter
The synapse thus forms a junction between neurons. The branch like dendrites of the neighbouring neurons receive the message. The developing brain then produces many more neurons and synapses than are eventually used or needed
Over the course of development, neurons develop in size and complexity, growing axon branches and dendrites that connect to other cells. This enables networks of cells to be connected with thousands of other neurons and organised in networks
In addition a process of myelination occurs which the axon is coated in a fatty sheath that improves the speed of transmission by up to 100 times
Application
Work in applying research into brain development into the classroom is still in its infancy so researchers caution about the claims of those who suggest their research has direct application into education when these may not be supported by evidence