2. Early brain development research
Neuroscience research shows the importance of early experience. New technology has made a big difference in how we understand the brain.
In the following video, Dr. Charles Nelson explains some of the tools used in his laboratory.
In the overview section of this module, we saw that from conception through the early childhood period, the foundation is being laid for healthy brain and overall life course development. At conception, an individual receives half of his/her chromosomes from each biological parent. This genetic make-up is like a plan for development, but it needs instructions about what to do and when and how to do it. Early experiences provide some of these instructions.
The new field of epigenetics (any process that affects how an individual’s genes function) looks at how environments and experiences can affect whether individual genes get expressed (turned on or off) without changes to a person’s DNA structure. Research on epigenetics has shown that experience really does get “under the skin”. Differences in gene expression will have corresponding effects on a person’s physical and mental health, behaviour and learning throughout life. Research on epigenetics underscores the importance of fetal and early childhood experience – a good start in life – for multiple outcomes including mental and physical health.
The next pages present some highlights of brain development research related to early experiences:
- the importance of nurturing and early caring relationships
- the impact of different types of stress on early development
- the development of memory and the impact on learning and communication
