developing person through the life span · developing person through the life span 2 developing...
TRANSCRIPT
Running head: DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 1
Developing Person through the Life Span
Student’s Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 2
Developing Person through the Life Span
The human brain will develop through different stages across the life span. In
each stage of development different optimal conditions will be necessary such as sleep in early
infant stages and other important stages such as parent/ child bond as a child grows. This paper
reviews different aspects related to the brain development of a child.
Why is the newborn mortality rate much higher in some countries than in others?
Different factors will cause varying of newborn mortality rates across
countries. The US has relatively higher infant mortality rates when it is compared to other first
world countries such as the UK or Germany. In 2014 more than 23, 0000 infants died in the US
which equated to at least 6 children dying in every 1000 live births. This was in stark contrast to
the rates of at least 2 to 3 deaths out of every 1000 children born in cultures such as Australia,
Finland, and Israel (Chen, Oster, & Williams, 2016). There are therefore many reasons why the
newborn mortality rates are much higher in the US compared to other first world countries. The
fists reason in the varying of the preterm newborn mortality across countries. The term infant/
newborn mortality refers to the death of children under the age of one year. In some countries,
children who are born prematurely and die are counted as stillbirths. In the US the premature
babies are considered as born despite them having relatively low levels of survival. This
accounts for the higher newborn mortality rates in the US (Chen et al., 2016). The lack of access
to universal prenatal care also contributes to high rates of newborn mortality in the US. This is
even made worse by the high number of unplanned pregnancies with at least 50 of pregnancies in
the US being planned. This group may not get early prenatal care which can increase the risk of
newborn mortality. A higher population of less educated and low-income populations in the US
compared to other first world countries also contributes to high newborn mortality rates (Pabayo,
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 3
Cook, Harling, et al., 2019). Infants born to better educated and wealthier parents will therefore
seem to have a slightly better survival rate compared to infants from low income and lesser-
educated parents. This might therefore be due to the high prevalence of Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome (SIDS) and unintentional injuries among these populations. This, therefore, results
from such groups not flowing recommendations such as sleep recommendations. The racial and
ethnic differences in newborn mortality may also explain why the US has high newborn
mortality rates than Europe. For example, Native American and African American babies will be
at a higher risk of SIDS compared to Caucasian, Hispanic, or Asian American babies (Pabayo,
Cook, Harling, et al., 2019).
What should caregivers remember of brain development when a baby cries?
When a baby cries, caregivers should remember not to instruct or force the baby to stop
crying as the baby’s brain has not yet developed adequately in a way that they can actively stop
crying. The prefrontal cortex will be one of the last parts of the brain to mature. The prefrontal
cortex will be responsible for impulse control, anticipation, and planning (Haartsen, Jones, &
Johnson, 2016). In the early years of infancy, the prefrontal cortex will be inactive to a large
extent and will grow and become more efficient as the baby matures. As a result of having an
underdeveloped and inactive prefrontal cortex, a baby cannot control their impulses such as
crying. Caregivers should therefore not force babies or instruct them to stop crying as babies do
not yet have this ability (Haartsen et al., 2016).
Why is explicit memory difficult for babies under 2 years of age?
Explicit memory is the memory that will be available to conscious awareness and can be
directly accessed through recalls, tests, and recognition memory. Explicit memory is also
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 4
referred to as episodic memory because it is made up of episodes and occurrences in a person’s
life (Haartsen et al., 2016). For example, a person can vividly describe what they ate for
breakfast and the conversations they have had with their mothers a week ago. A person can also
remember long terms events such as visits to their grandparents when they were just 5 years of
age. Explicit memory will be difficult for babies below the age of 2 years. This will be a result
of the hippocampus which is the part of the brain that will be responsible for memory not being
mature yet. As the hippocampus continues to grow past 2 years of age the child’s explicit
memory thus improves consistently (Haartsen et al., 2016).
How does evolution explain the parent-child bond?
The parent-child bond in human beings and some primates has evolved in a way that has
resulted in such bonding occurring even outside the contexts of parnutrition and pregnancy and
even in the absence of lactation (Broad, Curley, & Keverne, 2016). This evolution has been
characterized by neural changes over thousands of years. Human beings and some primates have
therefore evolved in a way that the hormones of lactation, pregnancy, and parturition will not be
necessary for the parent-child bond to be available. The parent-child bond in humans and in
some primates thus exist even long after pregnancy and childbearing. Some studies have
suggested that human beings and some primates have evolved and developed endogenous
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 5
opioids systems that help sustain the parent-child bond even long after parturition and suckling
age (Broad et al., 2016). The role of the endogenous opioid system in promoting the parent-child
bond has been effectively proved in monkey experiments with such monkeys showing fewer
concerns for their infants after naloxone treatment. In humans, the parent-child bond has been
found to greatly reduce among mothers who take heroin which reduces the functionality of the
endogenous opioid system. Studies have shown that only 50% of children born of heroin mothers
live with them by the time they are 1 year of age. By school age, only a mere 12% of children
with heroin-addicted mothers remain with them. The heroin-addicted mothers will therefore
abandon the children who are taken up for adoption or raised by grandparents. Opioid addicted
mothers have therefore been found to be less likely to remain as the primary caregivers of their
children which shows a dysfunctional parent-child bond (Broad et al., 2016).
Among humans, the parent-child bond is enhanced in the context of maternal care with
mothers being obsessed with creating safe environments and even cleaning obsessively before
their kids are born. After birth mothers will obsessively check on their children even when they
know they are okay. Over the years humans beings have evolved from what can be referred to as
hormonal centric determination of parent-child bonding to emotional and reward fulfilling
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 6
activation. This process may thus be based on opioidergic and dopaminergic activity which mays
be occurring in the ventral striatum. Through evolution, the parent-child bond in human beings
has therefore grown from being affected by hormones but by reward and fulfillment (Broad et
al., 2016). This ensures that the parent-child bond in humans continues way after birth and
lactation period.
How does father involvement affect infants?
An involved father can be defined as one who will behave responsibly and feel
responsible for a given child. Such fathers will be engaged and physically accessible to their
children, emotionally engaged, and also provide material support to sustain the needs of their
children. Involved fathers will also be involved in childcare and exert influence in child-rearing
decisions (Rollè, Gullotta, Trombetta, Curti, et al., 2019).
Scholarly studies have shown that father involvement will have a positive effect on the
early brain development of children. A study evaluating the cognitive development of infants
whose father was more involved with them in their initial months and actively played with them
performed better in cognitive tests at two years of age (Rollè et al., 2019). Father involvement
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 7
can lead to positive health outcomes among infants such as improved breastfeeding rates and
improved weight gain among preterm infants. The absence of father involvement in the early
years of the child's life can therefore have lasting effects such as hindered development from
infancy, childhood, and adulthood. The psychological effects of the absence of a father figure
among children therefore persist throughout their lives (Rollè et al., 2019). While a number of
factors will be critical in the development of a child quality father- infant interactions also play a
vital role in child development.
Conclusion
In summary, in the US the premature babies are considered as born despite them having
relatively low levels of survival. This account for the higher newborn mortality rates in the US
.The lack of access to universal prenatal care also contributes to high rates of newborn mortality
in the US. This is even made worse by the high number of unplanned pregnancies with at least
50 of pregnancies in the US being planned. This group may not get early prenatal care which can
increase the risk of newborn mortality. When a baby cries, caregivers should remember not to
instruct or force the baby to stop crying as the baby’s brain has not yet developed adequately in a
way that they can actively stop crying. Explicit memory will be difficult for babies below the age
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 8
of 2 years. This will be a result of the hippocampus which is the part of the brain that will be
responsible for memory not being mature yet. As the hippocampus continues to grow past 2
years of age the child’s explicit memory thus improves consistently. Over the years humans
beings have evolved from what can be referred to as hormonal centric determination of parent-
child bonding to emotional and reward fulfilling activation.
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 9
References
Broad, K. D., Curley, J. P., & Keverne, E. B. (2016). Mother-infant bonding and the evolution
Of mammalian social relationships. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of
London. Series B, Biological sciences, 361(1476), 2199–2214.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.1940.
Chen, A., Oster, E., & Williams, H. (2016). Why Is Infant Mortality Higher in the United States
DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN
10
Than in Europe?. American economic journal. Economic policy, 8(2), 89–124.
https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140224.
Haartsen, R., Jones, E. J., & Johnson, M. H. (2016). Human brain development over the early
years. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 149–
154. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.05.015.
Pabayo, R., Cook, D.M., Harling, G. et al. (2019). State-level income inequality and mortality
among infants born in the United States 2007–2010: A Cohort Study. BMC Public Health
19, 1333 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7651-y.
Rollè, L., Gullotta, G., Trombetta, T., Curti, L., Gerino, E., Brustia, P., & Caldarera, A. M.
(2019). Father Involvement and Cognitive Development in Early and Middle Childhood:
A Systematic Review. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2405.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02405