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Discuss the relationship between stress experienced and the relation to…
Discuss the relationship between stress experienced and the relation to nature & genetics versus nurture
NURTURE: The lack of a supportive environment of relationships -- in early childhood can trigger lifelong problems.
1) Stress can arise from fear/ mild anxiety, from physical ailments, or from interactions with adults who themselves are under stress.
2) Megan Gunnar has shown that youngsters who must manage being with large groups of children for many hours of each day experience rising levels of cortisol as the day progresses.
3) Young children in large centers and receiving poorer-quality childcare, have stress hormone levels double/ triple what they show at home on non-childcare days.
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NATURE/ GENETICS: Genes in our genetic libraries influence which books we take out and read at different points in brain development.
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1) Increases in stress hormones mean that gene books are opened and shut all over the brain, allowing the experience of stress to affect the brain's development.
2) Epigenetics can play a factor in how a young child responds to stress, too.
STRESS IN THE BRAIN: Frequent exposure to stress causes the release of harmful chemicals in a child's developing brain that can impair its physical growth and make it harder for neurons to form connections with each other.
KEY POINTS
1) The stress system can threaten our well-being if activated too often. This is what happens when a child experiences stress far too long/ too regularly.
2) An excess of these chemicals flood the developing brain with a corroding effect on its architecture, damaging the amygdala and hippocampus.
3) Pat Levitt suggests thinking of the stress system as a thermostat that can be damaged by unusual amounts of stress early in life. Our bodies tell us when to raise/ lower the thermostat. Childhood adversity shapes a stress system that has trouble lowering it or flipping the "off" switch.
SUGGESTIONS: It's important children fall down or get minor illnesses once in a while. Being able to adapt and cope with stress is part of life and you'd like to practice on small, manageable things. LOVING RELATIONSHIPS=STRESS HORMONE BLOCKER!
1) Ensure early, consistent prenatal care.
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