This can impair the development of neural connections, especially in the areas of the brain dedicated to higher-order skills. However, when these responses remain activated at high levels for significant periods of time, without supportive relationships to help calm them, toxic stress results. Activation of the stress response produces a wide range of physiological reactions that prepare the body to deal with threat. Experiencing stress is an important part of healthy development. Toxic stress weakens the architecture of the developing brain, which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health. The Brain Architecture Game was designed to help explain the science of early brain development-what promotes it, what derails it, and what the consequences are for society. The emotional and physical health, social skills, and cognitive-linguistic capacities that emerge in the early years are all important for success in school, the workplace, and in the larger community. Emotional well-being and social competence provide a strong foundation for emerging cognitive abilities, and together they are the bricks and mortar of brain architecture. The brain is a highly integrated organ and its multiple functions operate in coordination with one another. It is easier and less costly to form strong brain circuits during the early years than it is to intervene or “fix” them later.Ĭognitive, emotional, and social capacities are inextricably intertwined throughout the life course. Ultimately, genes and experiences work together to construct brain architecture. In the absence of responsive caregiving-or if responses are unreliable or inappropriate-the brain’s architecture does not form as expected, which can lead to disparities in learning and behavior.
A major ingredient in this developmental process is the serve and return interaction between children and their parents and other caregivers in the family or community. Although genes provide the blueprint for the formation of brain circuits, these circuits are reinforced by repeated use. The interactions of genes and experience shape the developing brain. Because this dynamic process never stops, it is impossible to determine what percentage of brain development occurs by a certain age. More importantly, the connections that form early provide either a strong or weak foundation for the connections that form later. The early years are the most active period for establishing neural connections, but new connections can form throughout life and unused connections continue to be pruned. These connections enable lightning-fast communication among neurons that specialize in different kinds of brain functions. * After this period of rapid proliferation, connections are reduced through a process called pruning, which allows brain circuits to become more efficient.īrain architecture is comprised of billions of connections between individual neurons across different areas of the brain. In the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections form every second. Simpler neural connections and skills form first, followed by more complex circuits and skills. The basic architecture of the brain is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood.
The development of a child’s brain architecture provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health.īrains are built over time, from the bottom up.
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