Shaping brains

Content

Why Neuroscience Matters

Brain development helps to explain why one approach or decision can work for one child yet not for the other (a challenge for any adult if there are plenty of children in one space). There are some fundamental principles to child development and attachment, starting with all children being unique. The most effective way to support a child is to recognise and respond to the child’s internal representations. In other words, figuring out how the child ticks through attunement will get healthier results. 

The Brain 

Brains are amazingly complex, multitasking at lightning speed. Every nanosecond, the brain monitors body functions and the surroundings to stay alive and still can learn new things. It truly is an awesome bit of kit.

Research has helped to understand fundamental brain functions, and sharing this research will help parents and influential adults make choices when considering child development and supporting behaviours.

Within five weeks of conceiving, a tiny cell has begun transforming into the baby’s brain. The distinct sections, such as the brain stem, limbic, and pre-frontal cortex form, getting ready to do specific tasks so we can function at our best.

As a matter of fact, even tucked away in the womb, the baby’s brain begins to specialise in the environment it is living in. Babies are uniquely developing and adapting with their mums.

“If you feel safe and loved, your brain becomes specialised in exploration, play and cooperation; if you are frightened and unwanted, it specialises in managing fear and abandonment” P56 The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk  

Brain Stem

The brain stem is one of the first parts of the brain to develop in utero. It is at the base of the head towards the back. A newborn’s brain stem prioritises survival, focusing on physiological needs such as being fed.

Like a cog, each section of the brain has a specialism and works alongside each other. The brain stem, specialising in survival, works closely with the autonomic nervous system. The two systems regulate the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, body temperature, and emotional response functions. These functions that adults take for granted once needed our utmost attention. A newborn brain works hard to develop and fine-tune these functions to become automated and can only do this with the help of their parent. Over time, feeding, comforting, and co-regulating, build a secure base with their parent.

Neural Pathways

A baby is born with approximately one hundred billion neurons, and by adulthood, this reduces to approximately 80 billion neurons. Each learning experience connects to more neurons making pathways (also known as synapses). Remarkedly, each neuron can have up to 10,000 connections with other neurons. In the long run, repetition of experiences strengthens pathways and, for this reason, becomes dominant. The unique map of neural pathways means we all respond and behave differently. We all need nurturing people to help create and encourage positive experiences that build healthy neural pathways. There are many examples and here are five,

• babies learn to smile because parents smile or use face-to-face interactions to build emotional recognition (this could look different for neurodiverse children),
• infants familiarise themselves with picture books to learn to read at an appropriate age,
• children learn to ask for help when struggling to zip up a coat when they desperately need to go play outside,
• children learn to play with others and take turns once practising those skills with role models,
• teenagers learn a musical instrument or athletics through many years of repetition and refining fine or gross motor skills.

Additionally, a significant pruning process occurs between 2- 6 years and within adolescence. The brain prunes by compressing the networks, creating shortcuts, and determining the importance of pathways. As a result, an adult is left with approximately 80 billion neurons. It is incredible.

The Nervous System

The nervous system is an excellent communicator, sending and receiving messages with other parts of the brain. Three areas that are in the nervous system are the autonomic, sympathetic, and parasympathetic systems.

The systems gather sensory information from internal signals and the external surroundings for balance. Sensory play strengthens the nervous system by fine-tuning the receptors. Not only can this keep us safe by being attuned to external surroundings, but we can also use the same receptors to calm the nervous system. Influential adults can also support children’s sensory receptors by monitoring and adapting the surroundings accordingly to meet the child’s needs. 

Autonomic Nervous System

It’s good to notice any patterns or strategies children and young people use that we typically call behaviours. The autonomic nervous system regulates involuntary physiological processes e.g. heart rate. Two of its divisions are the sympathetic and parasympathetic.

The sympathetic nervous system is activated with stress (remember not all stress is bad) as well as in perceived dangerous or threatening situations. The system becomes hyper-aroused, giving a boost of energy. This energy can help to meet a deadline, multi-task, and trigger a fight or flight response. A hyper-aroused response releases adrenalin and cortisol to up-regulate and activate the body to fight or run away. When this happens, regulating feelings will significantly cause a difference in children’s behaviours.

The parasympathetic nervous system helps the body rest and digest; to restore to a calm state. When you feel safe, it helps to relax and run the digestive system. The autonomic nervous system will also use the parasympathetic for a hypo-aroused freeze response in a perceived dangerous or threatening situation. For example, the term rabbit in the headlights is used to describe the behaviour. From the outside, it can look like the person is calm, but actually, they have shut down from fear or stress. When this happens, remind children they are safe to see a difference in behaviours. 

There are times when the brain will trigger a fight/flight response and then move into a freeze response for rest. If an environment is very chaotic a child may stay in fight/flight until the environment changes. A freeze response is not being calm and alert (the child is not ok), it is still a response to the perceived threat or danger.

A children’s day consists of many moments, such as learning a new skill, conforming to a school schedule, or hearing the word ‘no’. If this is distressing, triggering a hyper or hypo-arousal response is possible. These events are opportunities for a child’s brain to learn skills such as breathing to tolerate stress. This is done through co-regulation, validation, comfort, and a discussion that focuses only on how to respond to feelings (any consequences are a different conversation).

As the brain matures through skill building and experiences, more skills become automatic, and will no longer feel stressful. The brain begins to widen its window of tolerance, it develops resilience.

Understanding brain functions gives parents and influential adults choices. To pragmatically take the opportunity to build children and young people’s resilience and teach healthy ways to respond to their emotions. For example, if a child has a hyper-aroused response, the responsibility is to calm the nervous system down. To validate feelings, use regulation techniques and offer comfort will redeem their sense of safety. Teaching a child to listen to their brain and body and use grounding techniques to help them return to a calm state are life-long skills.

Supporting Self-Regulation

That same attunement in ‘serve and return’ helps the baby learn to regulate their emotions. The parent role models how to deal with distress and discomfort through cuddles, a soothing voice and discovering how to meet the child’s needs. 

Now, I don’t think a parent or influential adult ever stops co-regulating, it just looks different as the child grows. The responsibility shifts to the person who is in distress to seek co-regulation rather than the adult deciding to co-regulate. Pause to think about how you self-regulate, do you decide on what you need by taking advantage of involving others?  

Using positive regulating strategies like validating feelings, slow breathing, and calming the senses helps to reduce challenging (distress) behaviour. A useful approach is to reframe the words, challenging behaviour to distress behaviours. It changes the adult’s perception that the child is in distress. Stress activates the nervous system, thus triggering learned behaviours.

The Limbic System

The limbic is situated in the middle of the brain. Some of the fascinating tasks it does is regulating emotions, relaying sensory information, and helping the body learn and remember information. For this reason, it is vital to child development.

Now have you ever heard the saying “the mother has baby brain”; usually referring to the mother with low concentration or a forgetful memory? Baby brain is common in the first 6 months after birth. The mum’s limbic heightens, and their pre-frontal cortex function lowers, to allow the mum and baby to attune and form a healthy, secure attachment. Incredibly, females have this inbuilt function to heighten their limbic system and create strong connections with their babies. The baby coo’s, mum smiles back, and the baby learns to smile at mum – serve and return at its finest. So, mum – your heightened limbic has increased your emotional awareness and will be around for the first few months. It’s nature giving a helping hand.

Serve and return will look different for every family, however, if you are worried about connecting with your baby, there is support. If you are feeling low, please also reach out for support. NHS has a page for new parents who are feeling low.

To help raise children let’s look at four structures in the limbic system.

The Thalamus

One of the thalamus functions is to relay information from the senses, (except smell), to the cortex. A role to help stay safe and to regulate. Using textures, massage, vibration, pressure, and identifying temperatures in sensory activities strengthen the thalamus. A child who learns to tolerate multiple sensory information is more likely to feel calm. And ensuring the surroundings meet sensory needs (stimulating whilst not stressful) also supports the thalamus. Considering the environment will noticeably help neurodiverse people and can easily be included in a risk assessment or care plan.

The Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus produces multiple chemical messengers, called hormones such as serotonin, cortisol, and oxytocin. Hormones work hard to create a state of internal balance. Serotonin supports well-being (daylight/Vit D triggers serotonin production). Cortisol controls blood sugars and wakes the body up in the morning. It also gives the body a surge of energy when in distress, to fight or flight. Too much cortisol over a long period increases the risk of insomnia, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Oxytocin needs to be mentioned because it is a powerful hormone. It is known as the love hormone creating feelings of calm and closeness. When two people first fall in love, their bodies are full of oxytocin, giving that spring in their step. It influences behaviour generating optimism, increases self-esteem and builds trust. Women in labour have a good dose of oxytocin to get the job done. Oxytocin can help reduce cortisol levels. Bodies release oxytocin through positive touch, intensive interaction and feeling good about an achievement. It is a fantastic hormone to help build secure attachments. Children playing with people who care about, trust and respect can give themselves an oxytocin lift, strengthening positive relationships even further. 

Tap into all the positive activities and interactions you do with children and young people that release hormones supporting healthy well-being. You are expanding resilience by remaining in the window of tolerance much longer. If a child is angry or frustrated, it is better to comfort, to inject oxytocin and when the child is calm, discuss the concern.

The Amygdala

The amygdala prepares the body for dangerous or threatening emergencies. It attaches emotions to stored memories and relies on them for future recognition of any danger. The amygdala must act quickly by interpreting information to decide if the situation is dangerous or threatening. Therefore, it doesn’t have time to have an internal conversation with the pre-frontal cortex. Within seconds the amygdala will decide either, to do nothing or send a warning signal to other parts of the limbic and nervous system (including the brainstem). A child who holds positive memories ensures the amygdala sends appropriate many warning signals, releasing more cortisol.

The Hippocampus

Sensory play, developing fine and gross motor skills and a child feeling safe, comfort, proximity and predictability strengthen the limbic system allowing the hippocampus to develop. On average, by 2yrs old, the hippocampus can consolidate information from short-term, implicit memories to long-term, explicit memories. It sends the memories to the cortex to assess them and long-term storage. Before the hippocampus is developed, memories are stored unconsciously/implicitly (in the body).

Situations to Highlight the Limbic System

 A simple family situation highlights the different parts of a limbic system.

Parents are smiling and talking to their 1yo. 1yo uses their thalamus to sense that parents are chilled and content. 1yo feels safe. The hypothalamus sends a message to release oxytocin. This strengthens their attunement and attachment – the love and trust between baby, and parents.

An hour later, 1yo is startled by a loud noise from their older brother and starts to cry. 1yo thalamus can sense tension from brother, and parents. The hypothalamus messages and activates the sympathetic system. It sends a message to release cortisol, getting ready to fight (cry some more). 1yo cries and screams louder with flailing arms and legs. Parents comfort 1yo confirming everything is safe. The amygdala remembers they felt safe when their parents helped when there were loud noises. The hippocampus may not have developed to send a long-term memory to establish that the brother can be loud, however, the 1yo soon begins to ignore those similar startling noises recognising it’s their brother. A re-affirming memory for the amygdala and cycle that creates secure attachment and a sense of safety.

A school situation to highlight the limbic and automatic system.

8yo use their thalamus to sense the classroom is stimulating, the brain can focus on being curious. 8yo is enjoying the lesson. The learning assistant makes eye contact and praises the quality of work. The hypothalamus sends a message to release a drop of oxytocin generating optimism and motivation. Suddenly, the 8yo hears shouting and a tray of materials crashing to the floor. The 8yo thalamus senses the startling change in atmosphere, noise levels, and aggressive voices, and unconsciously senses other students’ nervous systems being activated so the hypothalamus sends a message and activates the sympathetic system, sending the message to release cortisol. The amygdala remembers the learning assistant has helped 8yo often, so they run closer to them. The teacher has quickly managed the situation, however, sees the 8yo crouching down hiding behind a chair, looking very still indeed. 8yo parasympathetic system is activated. The learning assistant reminds 8yo that the commotion is over, and the class is safe. That evening, the 8yo hippocampus consolidates the information sending a message to the cortex to reflect and store as a memory. The pre-frontal cortex decided that the situation was unfortunate but nothing to be too worried about. The thinking brain makes a note for the future that they can rely on the learning assistant. 

Children and young people who have or are experiencing adversity and trauma will be hypervigilant and perceive threats and danger differently. If they have learned to deal with adversity with aggression or withdrawal, our job is to replace those learned behaviours with healthier, pro-social ones. In other words, parents and influential adults will need a lot of patience to co-regulate and teach socially acceptable, healthy behaviours. 

Neurodiverse children and young people will require parents and influential adults to manage the environment and adapt stimuli such as intensive interaction to support their limbic and nervous systems. 

Parents and influential adults across the world are already supporting children and young people’s limbic and nervous systems, developing healthy neural pathways. Knowing the systems aids in raising children by focusing on a) short-term calming the nervous system down thus reducing distress behaviours and b) long-term using sensory play, strengthening fine and gross motor skills and regulation techniques to refine receptors of said systems.

Pre-frontal Cortex

Brain development isn’t a linear process, and the different areas develop alongside each other. However, as basic needs are met, the brain can spend more time and energy in the pre-frontal cortex, which is situated behind the forehead. It is responsible for thinking, learning, assessing, concentrating, empathising, problem-solving, and even impulse control. A child uses their pre-frontal cortex to play, communicate, use limbs, learn to read, and acquire social etiquette.  Lastly, values and morals, hopes and aspirations, require a healthy pre-frontal cortex to reflect on self and the world.

Talking about incidents, choices, and behaviours requires the pre-frontal cortex to be online. If a child is expressing distress behaviours such as shouting, crying, or hiding, the limbic system is dominant and therefore will need co-regulation. Neuroscience indicates discussing a situation and consequences should occur when everyone is calm, focused, and alert – when the pre-frontal cortex is dominant.

To Conclude

As the brain matures it can tolerate and multi-task at high speed. First, it needs to learn the skills, and knowledge to create those auto responses. Intelligent scientists are still finding new things about the brain so if you would like to read more on neuroscience and its impact on child development. Leading professionals have documented their pioneering research.

• Dr Patricia Crittenden, 
• Dr Daniel Seigel, 
• Dr Bessel Van der Kolk,
• Dr Allan Schore, 
• Dr Karen Treisman, 
• Dr Amber Elliot, 
• Dr Bruce Perry, 
• Dr Stuart Shanker 

Michelle x (I’m off to hit the parasympathetic switch)