Re:windows of opportunity

[Guest guest]

I don't know of any research- I believe it is all theory. I see people learning and growing developmentally at all ages.

Andra

[Guest guest]

The medical literature clearly documents rapid brain growth in the

early years. Just google brain development and you will get tons of

articles.

I agree that there is so much that we do not know about how the brain

works though.

[Guest guest]

http://zttcfn.convio.net/site/PageServer?

pagename=ter_key_brainFAQ#changes

What are the most important changes in the brain after birth?

While babies come into the world with some very useful survival

reflexes, they are still strikingly helpless, in large part because

the cerebral cortex is still quite immature. As the highest, most

recently evolved part of the brain, the cerebral cortex is

responsible for all of our conscious thoughts, feelings, memories,

and voluntary actions.

Although all of the neurons in the cortex are produced before birth,

they are poorly connected. In contrast to the brain stem and spinal

cord, the cerebral cortex produces most of its synaptic connections

after birth, in a massive burst of synapse formation known as the

exuberant period. At its peak, the cerebral cortex creates an

astonishing two million new synapses every second. With these new

connections come a baby's many mental milestones, such as color

vision, a pincer grasp, or a strong attachment to his parents.

By two years of age, a toddler's cerebral cortex contains well over

a hundred trillion synapses. This period of synaptic exuberance

varies in different parts of the cerebral cortex: it begins earlier

in primary sensory regions, like the visual cortex or primary touch

area of the cortex, while it takes off somewhat later in the

temporal and frontal lobes, brain areas involved in higher cognitive

and emotional functions. Nonetheless, the number of synapses remains

at this peak, over-abundant level in all areas of the cerebral

cortex throughout middle childhood (4-8 years of age). Beginning in

the middle elementary school years and continuing until the end of

adolescence, the number of synapses then gradually declines down to

adult levels.

This pattern of synaptic production and pruning corresponds

remarkably well to children's overall brain activity during

development. Using PET imaging technology, neuroscientists have

found dramatic changes in the level of energy use by children's

brains over the first several years of life—from very low at birth,

to a rapid rise and over-shoot between infancy and the early

elementary school years, followed by a gradual decline to adult

levels between middle childhood and the end of adolescence. In other

words, children's brains are working very hard, especially during

the period of synaptic exuberance that corresponds to the various

critical periods in their mental development (see above).

Besides synapse formation and pruning, the other most significant

event in postnatal brain development is myelination. Newborns'

brains contain very little myelin, the dense impermeable substance

that covers the length of mature brain cells and is necessary for

clear, efficient electrical transmission. This lack of myelin is the

main reason why babies and young children process information so

much more slowly than adults—why it might take a toddler a minute or

more to begin responding to a request such as " , bring Mommy the

teddy bear. " Myelination of the cerebral cortex begins in the

primary motor and sensory areas—regions that receive the first input

from the eyes, ears, nose, skin, and mouth—and then progresses

to " higher-order, " or association regions that control the more

complex integration of perception, thoughts, memories, and feelings.

Myelination is a very extended process: although most areas of the

brain begin adding this critical insulation within the first two

years of life, some of the more complex areas in the frontal and

temporal lobes continue the process throughout childhood and perhaps

well into a person's 20s. Unlike synaptic pruning, myelination

appears to be largely " hard-wired. " Its sequence is very predictable

in all healthy children, and the only environmental factor known to

influence it is severe malnutrition.