The growth of the human brain is at its highest in the first five years of age. At birth, the brain is about 25% of the size of adult brain and, by 4 years old, it reaches 90% of the adult brain. This fact alone makes the first five years of age very important in a person’s lifespan.

Information is transmitted to the nervous system and to the rest of the body through grey nerve cells called neurons. We are born with 100 to 200 billion neurons with each neuron comprising of approximately 30,000 cells (Johnson, 2003, as cited in Garvis et al., 2019).

Neurons transmit and receive information through their endings called synapses. We are born with 2500 synapses per neuron. However, this number increases to 15000 per neuron by age 3. As we grow up, the brain eliminates the neurons and the synapses that are not used.

The elimination is a natural part of development as long as it is not due to an imbalance in stimulation. Connections thrive through rich visual, auditory, or emotional stimuli. According to Graham (2001, 2011), the process unfolds as follows:

Visual stimulation: Vision can be stimulated by exposing the child to different colors, contrasts, and levels of brightness. Problems in vision that are left unattended might cause the eye to lose its connection to the brain.

Emotional stimulation: Children develop feelings of calm, relaxation, tension, and distress early in their lives. The brain wave patterns function better when positive emotions are triggered. Unresponsive relationships with the child can negatively impact the brain’s development.

Language simulation: Infants are programmed to focus on sounds and especially the human voice. Engaging with the child verbally using different tones and maintaining eye contact helps the child register the words and the context in which they are used.

Movement stimulation: Children need to be given opportunities to develop their large as well as their fine motor skills and their eye hand coordination. Experimentation with movement registers in the brain and movements get more refined as the child grows up.

Restraining children hurts their development and makes it harder for them to grow abilities in all areas of development as their peers. On the other hand, a positive environment supports children’s brain development and widen their opportunities to succeed to in a global world.

References:

Garvis, S., Phillipson, S., Clarke, S., Harrison, L., McCormack, J., & Pendergast, D. (2019). Child development and learning. Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Graham, J. (2001, 2011). Bulletin #4356, Children and brain development: What we know about how children learn. Retrieved from The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Website: https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/4356e/

HOME