Books Change How a Child’s Brain Grows
From Wired Science:
Books and educational toys can make a child smarter, but they also influence how the brain grows, according to new research presented here on Sunday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. The findings point to a “sensitive period” early in life during which the developing brain is strongly influenced by environmental factors.
. . . .
To investigate, neuroscientist Martha Farah of the University of Pennsylvania and her colleagues recruited 64 children from a low-income background and followed them from birth through to late adolescence. They visited the children’s homes at 4 and 8 years of age to evaluate their environment, noting factors such as the number of books and educational toys in their houses, and how much warmth and support they received from their parents.
. . . .
Previous work has shown that adverse experiences, such as childhood neglect, abuse, and poverty, can stunt the growth of the brain. The new findings highlight the sensitivity of the growing brain to environmental factors, Farah says, and provide strong evidence that subtle variations in early life experience can affect the brain throughout life.
Link to the rest at Wired Science
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Yes. This backs up what I said in a previous post about not exposing children to violence, horror and age inappropriate images, because the can impact their brain growth negatively.
Actually, the brain really doesn’t stop growing until the early 20s, so, even though they wouldn’t like this, it holds true for teens as well.
A wholesome diet of safety, comfort, creativity, inspiration and age-appropriate challenges feed a growing brain.
Mira, was there a particular article that triggered your memory of this, or is this just your impression from wide reading? I’m researching this right now –
Katharine,
This is a cool topic to research! Unfortunately, it’s more wide reading for me.
I can refer you to a possible resource, though. Are you familiar with Livia Blackburne? She’s a writer, and you’ll find her on blogs, including this one, but she’s also a brain scientist. She writes about the brain and writing, but she might know something about this topic, or have some referrals for you. She seems pretty cool, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you contacted her.
Here’s the link:
http://blog.liviablackburne.com/
Good luck!
“A wholesome diet of safety, comfort, creativity, inspiration and age-appropriate challenges feed a growing brain.”
Mira,
So say we all.
I loved that line from, “The Host,” where Wanderer states that children are almost worshipped where she comes from.
I know you have to parent, discipline and lead them, but it would be my guess that there are a lot of unloved, ignored kids out there that turn out to be messed up adults.
brendan
“Iknow you have to parent, discipline and lead them, but it would be my guess that there are a lot of unloved, ignored kids out there that turn out to be messed up adults”
brendan, sadly, I think you are very right.