“The
brain has tremendous potential to learn during the early phases of development.
If you take advantage of this principle, your children have a greater potential
in their own future.”
Dr Robert Graykowski
Creating a healthier brain is like following a blueprint for any
construction project or remodel
— the design scheme leaves plenty of room for a variety or improvements.
With today's technology it is now possible to see the areas of
the brain that are activated with different emotions or mental activities .Want
some added functionality? Have a better memory? Enhanced math skills? Superior
problem-solving abilities? Just make your request and the human brain will
happily adjust to accommodate your command.
The Challenge May Be Timing
Most major brain construction takes place before we are actually
born, leaving only a few key areas unfinished. Our ability to use vision to
distinguish objects in the world around us isn’t hammered out
for several months after birth. Likewise, our abilities to learn languages,
coordinate movements and solve puzzles gradually mature as we age.
The question is…
What can we do to influence the wiring in the areas of the brain that make
these behaviors possible? And what’s the possibility of successful remodeling
projects in adulthood, after construction has been officially completed?
The brains rewiring
capabilities (neuroplasticity) show that it is still possible to pick up new skills well into the golden years,
especially if the brain is primed with the best early experiences. life
experiences can physically alter the way the brain is constructed.
Laying Down a Great Foundation
The principles taught through the Better Brain Blueprint are
built around a solid foundation that adding new knowledge is best when it is
layered. “If you learn something in a series of
steps that are always within your capacity, then you can drive the brain much
further.”
Before birth almost 250,000 new nerve cells are being formed
every minute .Early in the brain’s formation, the neurons interconnect to form a
communications web. This network allows the brain to quickly carry out
complicated information-processing tasks. For an example, look at vision. These
neural connections allow signals to travel from the eye to the vision center in
the back of the brain and on to other brain regions to react or coordinate
emergency responses.
Each connection, called a synapse, adds to the brain’s computing power, so it’s no surprise that humans generally have more
synapses than our less-intellectual cousins in the animal kingdom.
But despite their obvious importance, the molecules that allow
these new synapses to form were unknown until only recently.
Modifying the Blueprint
The connections that form as the brain develops aren’t hard-wired. Rather than providing a precise blueprint, our genes
simply lay out which groups of neurons should probably keep in touch. A PhD
researcher ,Stephen Smith and Stanford professor of molecular and cellular
physiology has discovered some rules
that govern why one neuron makes a certain connection and its neighbor doesn’t. It all comes down to noise.
According to Smith, human brains form and react based upon
experiences. Neurons that are regularly active —
such as those getting called upon to solve tasks or make particular
language-related sounds —
will then form more extensive connections throughout the brain. A nerve
with more connections will then use
those neurons when they are developing creating more total brainpower
available.
What About the Room for Kids
Discoveries about how the brains of animals and humans develop
hold important lessons for child care and education. With this in mind,
neurobiology professor Eric Knudsen and the other 11 members of the National
Scientific Council on the Developing Child are translating their research into
a series of working papers and sharing them with educational policy-makers.
The first two papers, focus on children’s
relationships with adults and on emotional development. “These are the building blocks that
eventually allow you to do higher order functions,” Knudsen says.
A healthy relationship with adults won’t
teach a child to speak French, but it can develop brain circuits that make it
easier for the child to learn languages or chemistry or social skills later on
in life. More research is proving that early experiences can permanently change
the brain’s architecture and make it easier or harder for a
person to form normal relationships as an adult.
Be Conscious of Timing
when Building
No amount of teaching a newborn multiplication will help the
child’s math skills —
the math-processing neurons just aren’t developed yet.
The brain can’t respond to certain stimuli until they are at
the right developmental stage. At this time ,determining the precise moment a
particular person is ready to learn any particular skill is virtually impossible.
The best possible Better Brain Strategy is all about preparation.
We all know a child can’t learn geometry until the brain is ready. But
how well the child picks up that new skill can be altered by early experiences
that prime the brain and their connections for action.
Those fancy colored toys that make sounds, or puzzles aren’t exactly the same as teaching a child to play Mozart. But the
extra synapses formed because of those experiences might help with both Mozart
and math later on in life. Research over the past few decades also shows that
kids who have the richest environment growing up are also more emotionally
stable and able to form normal relationships.
Better Brain Tip
I recommend that kids spend time in environments to stimulate all
parts of the brain.
“Exposing
young kids to enriching experiences is perfect,”
.There’s no timeline for these experiences. It’s the cumulative impact of a rich childhood that adds up to
developing a better brain
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