by Sarah Roehrich

Have you ever wondered how experiences influence early brain development? This easy-to-read article, filled with hyperlinks to videos, articles, and resources, helps you understand how the brain develops from infancy through early childhood. Our journey begins with a description of Dr. Takao K. Hensch’s work on brain plasticity from a molecular and cellular biology perspective. Dr. Hensch studies critical periods in brain development, and he points out how the development of multi-modal perception helps us interpret our world. Shifting to education, we learn how to play the Brain Architecture Game, a game that has been used to teach students, teachers, policy makers, and many others, how experiences influence brain development in the first 8 years of life. Finally, we turn to clinical research on parent-infant relationships from luminaries such as Dr. Berry Brazelton, Dr. Kevin Nugent, and Dr. Ed Tronick. We look at how the Newborn Behavioral Observation System, the Touchpoints program, the Still-Face experiment, Early Intervention, parent supports, resources, and self-compassion, can help us identify babies’ and parents’ strengths and needs, teach parents and children to connect with each other, and teach parents how to advocate for their children and themselves. Read this blog at: http://www.wisebrain.org/tools/wise-brain-bulletin/volume-14-4.