There Is a New Growing Interest in ______, Or Research in Brain Development

HPW3C - Unit 2

Name: ______

Brain Development -

There is a new growing interest in ______, or research in brain development.

It has been discovered that the ______of one’s life is significant for the brain to develop fully.

Brain development is a combination of ______and the ______. It is the genes (or what a kid inherited from his/her parents) that create the structure of the circuit -but it is the combination of ______, the ______, and ______that determines how the circuit is “wired” or connected together. Developing the brain is all about wiring it in the most efficient way.

A child is biologically prepared to ______. That’s why a ____year old’s brain is ______times more active than an adult's. It has more ______(gaps between nerve fibers that make a child more sensitive to learning), and the density of the synapses remain high throughout the first ______of life.

Brain cell connections (the “wiring” of the brain) are alsocreated when a child forms ______to parents, family members, and caregivers.

There are “______” in a child’s mental development where his/her brain is particularly efficient at specific types of learning. There are ______where a child readily absorbs specific skills. This Optimal Window occurs when the connections of the brain develops at the most rapid rate. The Next Optimal Window is when the wiring of the brain is strengthened. Rewiring is when the brain make further adaptations to the existing wiring. Note that brain development is not a step-by-step process, but more like a wave.

WINDOW FOR / OPTIMAL WINDOW / NEXT BEST OPPORTUNITY / FURTHER REWIRING POSSIBLE
Emotional Intelligence
Motor Development
Vision
Early Sounds
Music
Thinking Skills
Second Language

Movement has also been discovered to strengthen the basal ganglia, ______(coordinates muscle contraction), and corpus collosum (a fibrous bundle of axons connecting the 2 brain hemispheres. It also increases the production of ______, the natural neural growth factor between the two brain hemispheres (Lyons) and increase myelination. ______is an important process for brain development as it helps with better brain function. First of all, myelin is the ______that wraps around the axon and helps transmit electrical pulses. It is also found to be responsible for the tripling of brain weight after birth. As the myelin layer gets ______the faster the transmission of information within the body and therefore improve brain functions.

So now the question therefore is “how do we best help children achieve the full potential of development of the brain?”

Double Doodle Activity: Try this with two pens/pencils/etc.