education and the developing brain
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Education and the Developing Brain
Robbin Gibb and Bryan Kolb
Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience
University of Lethbridge, Canada
What is the prefrontal cortex and
Why does it matter?
A Key Concept for Educators:The prefrontal cortex
1. All mammals have a region at thefront of the brain that acts tosupport cognitive functions necessary toorganize behavior in contexts thatvary over time.
Examples: imagination; social interaction;planning
And the Answers are:
2. The PFC is very late to develop and thismeans that it is profoundly influenced bydevelopmental experiences
As a result many serious mental healthissues can be related to PFC development…
And the Answers are:
Developing the cerebral hemispheres
80 billion neurons1014 connections =An engineeringmarvel…
Your brain is sculpted by alifetime of experiences, especially in the first few years of life.
Migration of Neurons
Cells must migrate to the right region AND the right layer
Brain Cells develop connections over the first 2-10 yrs
Then they are sculpted actively for 20+ yrs
Cell Death and Synaptic Pruning
In humans, PFC pruning continues until about age 30 years!
But the changes in brain and behaviour can be counter intuitive:This shows the correlation between decreasing cortical thickness and vocabulary.
What factors influence PFC development?
A wide range of factors alter both the development
and pruning of synapses. This impacts an amazing array of behaviors.
What factors influence PFC development?
1. Sensory and motor experience2. Early stress3. Psychoactive drugs4. Parent-infant relations5. Peer relationships
What factors influence PFC development?
1. Sensory and motor experienceexample: tactile stimulation
Maternal Massage Kangaroo Care
What factors influence PFC development?
1. Sensory and motor experience2. Early stress
1. Smaller brains2. Larger adrenal glands3. Altered frontal lobe development: decreased
synapses in mPFC and OFC. =abnormal social (play) behaviour=abnormal cognitive and motor behaviour
Moderate Prenatal Stress
What about Teacher-child relationships and the
classroom?Children in grade 1 can be classified by both behavioural and physiological responses: somechildren are very reactive to the class environmentwhereas others are not.
This is modulated both by the teacher-child relationship and the nature of the classroom (stable vs chaotic).
What about Teacher-child relationships and the
classroom?Children in grade 1 can be classified by both behavioural and physiological responses: somechildren are very reactive to the class environmentwhereas others are not.
This is modulated both by the teacher-child relationship and the nature of the classroom (stable vs chaotic).
Success Requires:• Creativity• Flexibility• Self-Control• Discipline
All of these qualities are “executive functions”-EF’s are more important for school readiness
than IQ -Predict math and reading competence thro’
school years
Children with worse self-control at ages 3-11 (stress, loneliness, not physically fit):
• Have worse health outcomes• Earn less• Commit more crimes in the ensuing 30 years
(studies controlled for IQ, Gender, and SES)
Even small improvements in EF can translate into improvements in health, wealth, and lower
crime rate for a nation( Moffitt et al. PNAS 2011) .
Ways to Improve EF function?
• Computerized training or hybrid computer and non-computer games (CogEd)
• Aerobic Exercise, Sports• Martial Arts, Mindfulness Practices (Yoga)• Classroom Curricula
Programs Designed to Enhance EF Development
• Tools of the Mind, Montessori, PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinks Strategies), CSRP (Chicago School Readiness Program), Have Two Important Commonalities:– Don’t expect young children to sit still for long– Reduce stress in classroom: focus on cultivating
joy, pride, self-confidence and social bonding.
Summary of Findings
1. Those with poorest EF’s gain the most– Early training can level the playing field and improve later
academic performance2. Largest differences seen with most demanding EF measures (situations where more executive control needed)3. Must challenge EF’s to continue to see improvements4. EF’s can be improved in children as young as 4-5 yrs.5. EF’s transfer but transfer is narrow
Why does the brain change?
• Brain plasticity offers an adaptive advantage. We can “learn” from our experiences and that should allow us to engage more appropriate behavioural responses in future situations
• Brain changes Behavioural changes
Experience (Environment)• But - Not all brain plasticity is positive! (Think of
habits)
Nature/ Nurture
• No longer a debate • Environment leaves its mark on
our genome and can modulate future gene expression in a sometimes heritable fashion
• The study of how environment leaves its footprint on the genome falls into the domain of Epigenetics
Harry Harlow -early work on surrogate mothers
Epigenetics
• refers to changes in gene expression often mediated by environmental influences that are stable between cell divisions, and sometimes between generations, but do not involve changes in the underlying DNA sequence of the organism.
Methylation
Parenting DifferencesMom Dad
Play Styles
Men• Play differently-more rough
and tumble• Allow more exploration of
their body• Play is unpredictable• Spend 40% of time with
kids in interactive play
Women• Color, draw, read• Don’t permit too much
physical contact• Play in a highly predictable
fashion• Spend about 22% of time
with kids in interactive play
Tag, wrestling, lots of physical contact
Coloring, drawing, board games, lots of control, little contact
Discipline StyleMen• Use a quick discipline
style- over with and move on.
• Expect immediate results
Women• Soften the blow.• Encourage change but want
kids to think about it
Encouragement StyleDads
• Encourage kids to take risks• Don’t coddle- want the child
to stretch their limits• Cheerleader style of
encouragement
Mom• Encourage kids to be safe• Want to be sure the child
feels secure and comfortable with what they are doing
• Lifeguard style of encouragement
Degus. Biparental care of the young
Lab Studies
• Father vocabulary (not mother’s) predicts kids literacy skills even though Dad’s speak fewer words to their kids
• Stronger interpersonal relationship skills• Fewer teen pregnancies, less drug use, less likely to join
gangs, more likely to finish high school• Strong mother attachment predicts none of these things
Strong Father Attachment
Paternal deprivation alters frontal lobe developmentC. Helmeke et al., Neuroscience 163 (2009) 790–798.
Why is this important?
Social hierarchies develop very early (even kindergarten) and the child’s position in the hierarchies can predict physical and mental heath both as children and in middle age…
The hierarchies can be seen in kindergarten play.
The hierarchies influence prefrontal development.
All mammals have play behaviour with
rules
The amount of play affected the complexityof cells in the prefrontal cortex.
One consequence is that the playful brain is more plastic later in life and responds differently to psychoactive drugs…
Conclusion
• Brain Development is prolonged (especially PFC-EF) and profoundly affected by experience.
• Thus the nature/nurture interaction predicts success in school and lifetime health and prosperity.
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