By eliminating seldom-used pathways the brain
leaves room for sturdier, more efficient, neural
networks.
And:
Like all Darwinian
selection, this process
of synaptic pruning is
an extremely efficient method for adapting the
baby’s neural circuits to the exact demands
imposed by its relationship-based environment. –
The baby has no comparison!
Plus experience-dependant plasticity.
Our nervous system forms in an ecological
dialogue with our physical and social environment.
The brain creates, strengthens and discards
synapses and neuronal pathways in response to the
environment. In later years it organises itself in a
‘use-dependant’ fashion, where growth is initiated
by the unique experience of the individual. A
matter of inspire and rewire! Synaptogenesis
occurs in those brain regions involved in processing
particular events.
“Plasticity is a double-edged sword
that leads to both adaptation and
vulnerability. (p.94) Neurons to Neighborhoods.
What about attachment?
Attachment is an example of a developmental progression
that is particularly sensitive to the environment since “the
formation of an attachment may reflect an experienceexpectant process but the quality of the attachment may
reflect an experience-dependant process. A child whose
caregivers respond consistently and sensitively during the
infancy period is more likely to become a psychologically
well-functioning adult, capable of forming lasting
relationships with others. A child who grows up in an
institution where ‘caregiving’ largely consists of being fed
and changed is far less likely to attain psychological
health.” (p. 302) Nelson, C. A., Fox, N. A. & Zeanah, C. H. (2014) Romania’s
Abandoned Children. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Sensitive periods.
The central nervous system requires ‘instruction’
from experience during sensitive periods in order to
develop properly. Sensitive periods in the
development of complex behaviors reflect sensitive
periods in the development of the neural circuitry
that underlies these behaviors.
Such periods allow experience to
instruct neural circuits to process
or represent information in a way
that is adaptive for the individual in that particular
environment. The effects of experience will operate
within the constraints imposed by genes on a circuit.
Neural networks in different areas of the brain
associated with specific functions proliferate rapidly
and then begin pruning in the earliest years of life.
Windows of opportunity.
Birth to 6 months old.
Brain growth is unmatched
during the first six months
of life. The most critical
windows during this stage
are vision, vocabulary, and
emotional development.
Because the windows for
vision and emotions begin to
shut so early, it is important
to pay attention to them
during this stage.
6 to 12 months old.
With connections primarily established for sight,
the critical windows during this stage are speech
and emotional development.
The foundations for governing
emotions are established.
Language capacity grows
tremendously during this
period, and this is a good
time to introduce the
natural sounds of other
languages.
12 to 18 months old.
Most of the critical
windows of human brain
development are open
during this stage. At no
other time is the brain so
receptive and responsive.
Many of the neurological
connections that govern a
lifetime of skill and
potential are beginning to
take shape.
18 to 24 months old.
Children in this stage
are gaining more
control of their bodies,
and their motor skills
are developing.
They are becoming
more aware of other people’s feelings and
beginning to learn to share. Language and
vocabulary remain important. Attention should
be given to how maths and logic are discovered
through play as well – preferably outdoors.
2 to 3 years old.
By the age of three, much of a child’s brain
growth and density is complete. The brain patterns
that will guide a child’s development are already
well established. The critical windows for some
skills such as speech begin to close, so vocabulary
building - the sound of
speech - is important.
Brain patterns for music
begin to develop at the
end of this stage.
3 to 5 years old.
Between the ages of
three and five, most of
the remaining critical
windows in a child’s
brain development
begin to close.
There appears to be a connection
between the brain patterns
stimulated by music and the part of
the brain used to understand spatial
concepts in math. The brain patterns
created while learning a musical
instrument between ages 3 and 10
are hard-wired for life.
But sometimes things go badly wrong.
The small child’s
environment is defined by
relationships.
Neglect is the absence of
critical relationship-based
organising experiences at
key times during
development.
e.g. post-natal depression,
household with violence,
parents who themselves
were ‘looked after’.
“During brain growth there is a constant sorting and
juggling of nerve cells and connections. Those that
make a match with their environment thrive, and the
others wither.” (p.124.)
And so:
“Impoverished environments appear to have the
opposite effect of rich
and varied surroundings.
They suppress brain
development.” (p. 158)
Bownds, M. D. (1999)
The Biology of the Mind.
Bethseda: Fitzgerald Science Press.
Windows of vulnerability.
P.E.T. scan of a normal two year old.
The temporal lobes receive
and integrate inputs from the
senses, and combine them
with deep primitive drives
from the limbic system and
brain stem. They also deal
with hearing, learning,
memory skills, emotions and
identifying familiar and
trustworthy people.
PET scan of the brain of
a Romanian orphan
institutionalised shortly
after birth shows the
effects of extreme
deprivation in infancy.
Global neglect has been
followed by atrophy of
‘unnecessary’ areas.
For a direct comparison.
Normal 2-year old.
2-year orphan.
The neurobiological impact of maltreatment.
“Because childhood abuse occurs during the critical
formative time when the brain is being physically
sculpted by experience, the impact of severe stress
can leave an indelible imprint on its structure and
function. Such abuse, it seems, induces a cascade of
molecular and neurobiological effects that
irreversibly alter neural
development.” (p.56)
Martin H. Teicher. Scars that won’t
heal: the neurobiology of child abuse.
Scientific American, March 2002.
pp.54-61.
•  The organising brain requires patterns of sensory
and emotional experience to create the patterns of
neural activity that will guide the neurobiological
processes involved in development.
•  In the face of interpersonal trauma, all the systems
of the social brain become shaped for offensive and
defensive purposes.
•  A child growing up surrounded
by trauma and unpredictability
will only be able to develop
neural systems and functional
capabilities that reflect this
disorganisation.
The orbitofrontal cortex and trauma.
The orbitofrontal cortex is the brain system involved
in social adjustment, the control of mood, drive and
responsibility and those traits that are seen to define
the personality of an individual. It is the site of the
attachment control system, and makes sense of the
reactions triggered by the amygdala.
This is the only area
of the brain that is
one synapse away
from the cortex,
limbic structures
and brain stem, and
so integrates them
into a functional
whole.
The orbitofrontal cortex begins its critical period of
growth from the last quarter of the first year to the
end of the second. Relational trauma at this time
interferes with the organisation of orbitofrontal
regions, which are responsible for regulating the
autonomic nervous system (ANS).
It is also involved in the
regulation of emotion and
intersubjectivity; and is crucial to
the development of moral
behaviour. Trauma will
compromise such functions as
attachment, empathy, the capacity
to play and affect regulation.
An inefficient right orbitofrontal system will be
unable to modulate the response of the amygdala
to emotionally significant and stressful stimuli,
e.g. an interpersonal threat, a sense of defeat or a
feeling of shame.
Hypothalamus controls
autonomic nervous
system through pituitary
gland & adrenal cortex.
Orbital-frontal
cortex
The HPA axis is programmed
by early caregiving behaviour.
Linking thalamus, amygdala and cortex.
Prefrontal
cortex.
(The slow, thoughtful, track.)
Hippocampus.
Busy translating
the sight of danger
into preparing to
fight, flee or freeze.
Sensory gateway to
cognitive processes
organised through cortex
and hippocampus. This
contextualises and
makes sense of
Thalamus.
experience.
(The fast, primitive, track.)
Perception.
Here we have the
evaluation of
experience and the
regulation of emotions
by cognitive processes.
Amygdala.
Reflexive activation of emotions and
defences before cognitive processes
in the pre frontal cortex occur.
Controls emotional
and physical
responses.
“Abuse and neglect in the first years of life have a
particularly pervasive impact. Pre-natal
development and the first two years are the time
when the genetic, organic, and neurochemical
foundations for impulse control
are being created. It is also the
time when the capacities for
rational thinking and sensitivity
to other people are being rooted
- or not - in the child’s
personality.” (p. 45)
Karr- Morse, R. & Wiley, M. (1997)
Ghosts From the Nursery.
New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
Early experiences of prolonged and frequent trauma
in the form of episodes of intense and unregulated
stress within the family may be deemed ‘toxic’; and
in babies and toddlers this may have devastating
effects on the establishment of psycho-physiological
regulation and the establishment of stable and
trusting relationships in
future life. This will also
influence how and when
the child, and later the
adult, responds to real
or perceived threats.
.
This is neuro-hormonal programming for survival.
Pathway to the stress response.
Sensitive Secure attachment / resilience.
Return to
caregiver
calm state.
Affect
regulation
occurs.
response.
Fight or flight,
Signal of threat,
hyperarousal.
hostile or
Survive by action.
helpless
caregiver, sense
of fear, feeling
No response.
abandoned,
An inappropriate
inappropriate
response.
responses from
Freeze & fade.
‘scaregiver’, etc. The infant is making
‘Terror without solution’
a bid for interactive
Dissociation, or
hypoarousal.
regulation. Crying is
Survive by disappearing.
an attachment signal.
The two opposite neurochemical response
patterns to threat.
(1) The hyperarousal continuum:
this comprises the defensive ‘fight or flight’
responses, expending bodily resources for survival.
The initial stages of threat trigger the sympathetic
system’s alarm reaction, stimulating the brain stem
to release adrenalin and noradrenalin which then
trigger the release of glucose and insulin. The body is
now on alert and high arousal.
If the threat materialises then the full
fight or flight response becomes
fully activated via the HPA axis.
Inescapable threat within the familyis a form of
toxic stress. Thus the components of the fear
response become sensitised, putting the child in a
persisting fear state (a state becomes a trait) that
causes exaggerated reactivity. He or she may
become hyperactive, over-sensitive and
hypervigilant, and move quickly from anxiety to
terror. This may cause persistent
hyperarousal disorders such as
ADHD, PTSD and conduct
disorders. It also negates the
capacity for rational thought.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is
released in response to stress,
generating new energy from stored
reserves, diverting energy from
low-priority functions such as the auto-immune
system, and sparing available glucose for the brain.
Elevated levels break down proteins and increase
blood pressure. It suppresses the immune system,
inhibits physical growth, and affects many aspects of
brain functioning including emotions and memory. It
is toxic to growing brain cells. It is also released
when the baby experiences a lack of stimulation &
touch. The ‘antidote’ is oxytocin and laughter!
Scared stiff!
•  Extreme, inescapable, terror halts
normal metabolism. Energy is
conserved by passive withdrawal.
•  If ‘flight or flight’ is not an option
for immediate survival, and
nothing will reduce the threat, the
dorsal vagal mechanism kicks in.
•  This is the most primitive reaction
system; it activates an ‘end-of-theline’, play dead or die,
parasympathetic response.
(2) The dissociative continuum:
The parasympathetic system is normally the ‘rest and
digest’ branch of the ANS, concerned with selfmaintenance, conserving bodily resources
and building energy. When over-activated
in order to disconnect from a horrific
reality, it leads to a ‘freezing’ reaction
that slows the heart and breathing, shutting
down the body rather than mobilising it.
The
child is rigid with fear, but may remain hypervigilant.
Babies and toddlers can neither fight nor flee. In the
stage of early alarm, when the attachment system is
activated, the infant can only use a limited repertoire
of behaviour to attract the attention of the caregiver.
If this strategy is ineffective, so there is
no soothing response from a caregiver,
the child will abandon the early alarm
signal which will then be extinguished.
The attachment cry becomes a futile gesture.
Such a defeat response of ‘learned helplessness’ is
common in neglected and abused children and adults.
In the face of persisting threat the only ‘escape’ may
be to dissociate and physically and cognitively
freeze. (Play dead.) Such mental mechanisms of
defence involve disengaging from the external world
and only attending to stimuli from the internal world,
thus becoming disconnected from reality. Again a state may become a trait.
Stress!
Sensitive
caregiver.
Homeostatic
recovery.
Heightened
arousal.
States
Traits
Infant learns to
tolerate internal
challenges.
Calm & connect versus
flight, fight or freeze.
Super nanny!
Insensitive
caregiver.
Dysregulated
stress response.
Under or over
activity becomes
a hard-wired feature
of stress response
system.
Trauma in infancy - abusive parenting, toxic stress, attachment
system compromised, emotional dysregulation, hopelessness,
chronic fearful arousal, lack of basic trust, disorganisation.
Sensitised nervous system as brain adapts to emotional environment.
Stress in adult: maladaptive coping strategies, reminders and
experiences of trauma, adverse life events, relational aggression, etc.
Permanent psychological distress - conscious or
unconscious, lack of reflection, unbearably painful
emotional states, low self-esteem.
Retreat as
self-protection:
isolation and
loneliness,
dissociation,
depression.
Self-damaging
actions:
substance abuse,
eating disorders,
deliberate self-harm,
suicidal actions.
Destructive
actions:
aggression,
violence,
fundamentalism,
rage, crime.
Implications for babies.
Optimal growth and
development occurs within
nurturing relationships; and
these directly affect the
formation of neural
networks and the capacity
for emotional-regulation.
The birth and care of a
baby offers a (new) chance
for change.
All parents want to do the
best they can for their
babies. But not all parents
have the same resources.
Recommended reading.
For an overall view Sue Gerhardt, (2015) Why Love
Matters (2nd Ed.)
A focus on teenagers –
Daniel Siegel, (2013)
Brainstorm: The Power and
Purpose of the Teenage Brain.
See this important report
from the D of E and the
WAVE Trust.
http://
www.wavetrust.org
Plus the ‘The 1001
Critical Days’ manifesto
on
http://www.pipuk.org.uk
Association of Infant Mental Health (UK).
This is an organisation for those interested in all
branches of infant development as well as early
intervention with babies and their families. It goes
with reduced rates at their workshops and
conferences, with access to a lot of information on
the website. Group membership for Children’s
Centres. Application forms
from:
Administrator AIMH(UK).
email: info@aimh.org.uk
website: www.aimh.org.uk
Our advisory panel.