2. • Go to the Student Introductory Discussion Board
and tell a little about yourself (you can find a link
in the Session 1 page, or to the left in the
navigation bar).
• Go to the Session 1 Blog and answer a few
questions about why you are taking this module
(you can find a link in the Session 1 page, or to
the left in the navigation bar).
Before You Begin…
3. • Brain development - experience,
environment & genetics
• Trauma – Physical, Social, Psychological
• Factors that can influence the attachment
process and relationships.
Session Aims
5. • Neuroscientific evidence
• The Physiology of the physicality
• Social Constructivism
What Informs Understanding of Mental Health
and Well-being?
6. National Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence (NICE) Public health guidance 40, 2012
Guidance for social and emotional well-being for LA’s, NHS,
community, voluntary & private sectors
Allen Report, 2011
The significance of social and emotional intelligence
Marmot Review, 2010
The significance of nurturant environments
Field Report, 2010
The significance of responsive relationships
Confident Communities/Brighter Futures, 2010
Life course approach which include positive social relationships
Why bother?
7. Click on the ‘evidence’ box in the section ‘what research tells us’
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/early/b0077836/introduction
Research Informing Government Policy: Critical
Factors in Early Years
8. • Prevention and Health Promotion
• Early Intervention
• Targeted Support Services Around the
Child and Family
Three Approaches to Mental Health and Well-
being
12. • Dissection, experimentation & observation of
behaviour:
• Imaging including:
• fMRI- Functional magnetic resonance imaging
• CT- Computed tomography
• PET- Positron Emission Tomography
• EEG- Electroencephalography
• MEG- Magnetoencephalography
• NRIS- Near infrared spectroscopy
Click Here for a Great Free Resource
Exploring the Brain Through…
13. You are born with 100
billion brain cells,
neurons, but these are
largely unconnected
and not networked.
Synapses are
produced at the rate of
1.8 million per second
between 2 months and
2 years! Each neuron forms
about 1,500 synapses.
You have more
than 2 million miles
of neuronal fibres.
By the age of 2 a child has as
many synapses as an adult but
this has doubled by the age of 3.
By late adolescence half the
synapses in the brain have
been discarded.
Stress induced
neurochemicals lead to
cell death in a tender
brain.
Neglect may cause
unused regions to
atrophy – apopsis.
When signal transmission reaches
a certain threshold the synapses
involved become exempt from
future elimination.
Myelination begins in the brain
stem and cortex and progresses
to higher order regions of
thought, memories & feelings.
By the age of 3, the brain
has reached 90% of adult
size.
The brain continues to
grow & develop until mid
20’s but remember
plasticity.
Brain Facts
16. • During the first few years of life the brain
becomes organised i.e. the brain changes in
response to stimulation.
• Neurons which were unconnected at birth
become connected
• Neurons which are not stimulated are lost
• Lack of stimulation and profound neglect alters
and reduces the brain’s functioning
• Assaults and toxins can damage brains cells,
resulting in difficulties associated with the area
affected.
26 November 2013 Masters BSU
17. Brain Region
Age of
Greatest
Developmental
Activity
Age of
Functional
Maturity
Key Functions
Neocortex
(Forebrain)
Childhood Adult
Reasoning, problem-solving,
abstraction, secondary
sensory integration
Limbic
(Forebrain)
Early
Childhood
Puberty
Memory, emotional regulation,
attachment, affect regulation,
primary sensory integration
Diencephalon
(Forebrain)
Infancy Childhood Motor control, secondary
sensory processing
Brainstem
(Mid and Hindbrain) In Utero Infancy
Core physiological reflexes
and state regulation, primary
sensory processing
Brain Functions By Region
18. BRAIN AND
DEVELOPMENT
(Hughes & Baylin, 2013)
STAGE ONE: VERTICAL INTEGRATION
FRONTO-LIMBIC CIRCUIT
0-18 MONTHS
STAGE TWO:
HORIZONTAL
INTEGRATION
LEFT AND RIGHT
INTERACTION
STAGE THREE: LATERAL INTEGRATION
FRONTAL ORCHESTRATION &
MATURATION
17-28 YEARS
ESSENTIAL FOR SELF-
REGULATION
AND ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY
20. •It stimulates or halts the release
of neurotransmitters and
hormones
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201309/the-love-hormo
(Oxytocin link)
• Ability to process emotions
• Encode, store, and retrieve
memories
• Has a role in:
- arousal
- memory,
- emotions,
- feeding,
- sexual behaviours,
- Motivation
• It operates by influencing
the endocrine system and
the autonomic nervous
system
Limbic System Functions
21. Amygdala is for regulating movement, memory, emotions,
immune system etc.
Frontal lobes for regulating impulses, planning,
judgement, goal-setting etc.
More connections between amygdala and frontal lobes
than any other part of brain
Motivation = Emotion in motion
Clip to View:
Emotions in the Brain
The Double Act
25. Increased effectiveness – dendrites & synapses
More effective transmission - myelinated axon
26 November 2013 Masters BSU
26. Synaptogenesis & Apoptosis-
developing, tuning and pruning our neuronal
networks
• We are born with many more neurons
than we will ever need
• Genes, environment & experience effect
the density of the neuronal networks
• As we develop and grow some networks
are pruned
e.g. babies are tuned into every human sound
but gradually “prune” out the ones not
neededor used for their “mother tongue”
‘Use it or loose it’
29. The Connectome - neuronal network
linking up the areas of brain
Denser network = quicker, faster, more reliable
connections because ‘the sum of the parts is better
than the parts alone’
30. Plasticity – the ability to adopt and
adapt to stimulus
Neuronal networks are continuously shaped by
genetic, environmental and experiential stimulus and
strengthened through repetition. Brain plasticity
reduces as we age
31. Mirror Neurones - encode information
about the external world and goal-directed
behaviour
They enable humans to emulate others and thereby
empathise & understand intent– essential for the
socialization of children
32. Mirror Neurons Continued
• i.e. they help us to process information about the
intentionality of others’ actions and minds
• 1 year olds are able to distinguish between goal-directed
behaviour and non-goal directed behaviour by humans
i.e. they don’t just copy mindlessly, they can infer
people’s goal-directed actions and will selectively imitate
others’ actions
26 November 2013 Masters BSU
33. Clips to View:
Mirror NeuronsMirror Neurons 2Origins of Us, Brains, Mirror
Neurones
Dr. Siegel Explains Mirror Neurons in DepthEmpathy and Mirror
Neuroscientist says we are all one. 'Empathy neurons.'
34. The Brain:
“You get out what you put in”…
The more a pathway is used .. the more
established it becomes .. the easier it is the
use .. and the more it will become the
chosen route.
37. Development arises from the interplay
- over a lifetime - of:
Genetic make up & maturation processes
Autonomic nervous system response
Learnt response
Experiences
Environments
Attachments
Knowledge and understanding
38. Gene-
environment
interaction
Environment of
relationships
Physical, chemical
and built
environments
Nutrition
Cumulative effects
over time
Biological embedding
during sensitive periods
Physiological
adaptations &
disruptions*
Health related
behaviours
Educational
achievement &
economic
productivity
Physical and
mental health
Adult outcomes
Lifelong outcomes
Foundations for healthy
development & sources of
early adversity
Biodevelopmental Framework: How early experiences get into our
Body: (Shonkoff, 2010,pg.358)
+
-
+
-
-
+
39. What do you think we need to
develop and grow?
• Time
• Teaching
• Opportunity
• Knowledge and
understanding
• Security
40. Birth to 12 months old
Brain growth is unmatched.
The most critical windows during this
stage are:
Emotional Development as the
foundations for governing emotions
are established through attachments
Vision
Vocabulary
41. 12 to 24 months old
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.
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
maths and logic skills as well-holistic
42. 2 to 5 years old
By the age of three, much of a child’s brain
growth and density is almost complete-physical.
The brain connections that will guide a child’s
development are already well established.
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.
43. 5-10 years
Learning from parents, peers and
educational settings- cultural
influences
Gender awareness established
Development of friendship group
Recognition of rules
Development of social skills to
accommodate difference and
diversity
Development and articulation of logic
Ability to combine knowledge sources
to create new
44. 11 to late teens
• Moral maturation- Nb of changes
in frontal lobes
• Selective/exclusive in friendships
• Peer influence/ parental control
balance
• Recognition of roles and rights
• Puberty- hormonal fluctuations
• Emotionally labile & exploration
• Personal/group identity issues
• Conform/ individuality
46. Toxins can alter patterns of Neuron proliferation.
Many intrauterine and
perinatal ‘insults’ can alter the
migration of neurons and have
a profound impact on
functioning.
Examples include infection,
lack of oxygen, malnutrition,
psychotropic drugs, lead
poisoning, ionising radiation
and alcohol.
Clips to View:
Foetal (Fetal) Alcohol Syndrome
FASD Resource Page Link
47. The neurobiological impact of abuse
Epigenetic effect.
“When 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.” (Teicher,2002:54-61).
It can alter the function of genes for the following hormones:
STRESS HORMONES
OXYTOCIN RECEPTOR
SEROTONIN RECEPTORS
OESTROGEN RECEPTOR
BRAIN GROWTH FACTOR
48. Epigenetics Continued
• Genes are programmed to respond to external
environment
• Epigenetics = changes in gene activity that do not involve
alterations to the genetic code but can still get passed
down to at least one successive generation
• These patterns of gene expression are governed by the
cellular material — the epigenome — that sits on top of the
genome
• Epigenome can tell your genes to switch on or off (gene
expression) depending on the experiences we have
• Environment can make ‘imprint’ on epigenome
Clip to View:
The Epigenome at a Glance
49. The First Relationships are Important
• Positive predictable interactions
with nurturing caregivers profoundly
stimulate and organize young
brains.
• The quality of early care giving has
a long lasting impact on how people
develop, their ability to learn, and
their capacity to both regulate their
own emotions and form satisfying
relationships
Clip to View:
Harvard Serve and Return
50. Stresses that Impact upon the Care-
giving Relationship-
Socio-demographic Factors
Chronic unemployment
Inadequate income/housing
Frequent moves/no telephone
Low educational achievement
Single teenage mother without
family support
Violence reported in the family
Severe family dysfunction
Lack of support/isolation
Recent life stress (e.g. bereavement,
job loss, immigration)
51. Effects of Maternal Anxiety During
Pregnancy
• This doubles the risk of behavioural problems in
both boys & girls at 4 & 7 years of age
• The chemical changes associated with even mild
anxiety leads to raised maternal cortisol levels-
which are passed through the placenta → raised
cortisol in foetus.
• Cortisol in baby’s bloodstream is a trigger for
premature delivery & causes intrauterine growth
retardation
52. • Analysis of stress hormone levels in 10-year-old
children whose mothers suffered stress during
pregnancy has provided evidence that prenatal
anxiety may affect the baby in the womb in a way
that carries long-term implications for well-being.
• The study suggests that foetal exposure to prenatal
maternal stress or anxiety affects a key part of their
babies' developing nervous system; leaving them
more vulnerable to psychological and perhaps
medical illness in later life.
(O'Connor et al., 2005)
Effects of Maternal Anxiety During
Pregnancy Continued
53. The Context of Parental Depression and
Effect on Infant Security
Economic
hardship
Less sensitive
interactions
Relationship
stress
Increase in
frequency of
child punishment
Infant
attachment
security
54. • In high-risk, low socio-economic status
families, the rate of disorganised
attachment in young children with
depressed mothers has been estimated to
be as high as 60%.
(Lyons-Ruth et al.,1990)
• Rates of insecure-disorganised
attachment are higher in chronically
depressed mothers than in those who
are not chronically depressed.
(Teti et al., 1995)
55. Effects of Maternal Mental Illness on
Attachment Patterns in Their Children.
It is IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER that when few
other risk factors are present the compromising effect
of maternal depression can be minimized
When young children of mentally ill mothers are
compared to index groups of children of non mentally
ill mothers they have been found to have higher rates
of disorganised / controlling attachment.
(DeMulder, & Radke-Yarrow, 1991)
56. Lack of Touch and Interaction on the Brain
These are PET scans of two three year olds.
Note the reduction in brain volume as a result of neglect.
57.
58. Global Neglect & Reduced Brain activity.
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 deal with
hearing, learning, memory
skills and emotions.
P.E.T. scan of a typical two year old.
59. PET scan of the brain of
a Romanian orphan,
who was
institutionalised shortly
after birth. It shows the
effects of extreme
deprivation in infancy.
‘Global neglect’ has
resulted in atrophy of
the unused and
therefore ‘unnecessary’
areas.
NB: Use /abuse of scans
60. The infant has no comparisons and family
relationships are their world.
61. “You must be careful
how you walk and
where you go, for
there are those
following you who
will set their feet
where yours are set”
(Lee, no date, cited in
Brodie, 2009: 14)
Clip to View:
Children Copy
62. Attachment Related Trauma
Severe traumatic attachments in the first two years of life
results in structural limitations of the early developing right
brain. This is the hemisphere that is dominant for:
Unconscious processing of social and emotional
information,
The regulation of bodily states,
The capacity to cope with emotional stress,
The ability to understand the emotional states of
others (empathy)
The sense of a bodily and emotional
self.
63. Any experiences of prolonged and frequent episodes
of intense and unregulated stress in babies and
toddlers have devastating effects on the
establishment of psycho-physiological regulation,
(Vagal Tone) and the establishment of trusting,
stable and relationships in the first year of life is
important.
Clip to View:
What Happens
When Attachment
Doesn’t happen?
66. What happens in and to our bodies ?
Fight- Flight- Freeze
Response
To Fear, Excitement and
Effort – it is a natural
hormonal response to stress
Vagus Nerve Response
It acts as a ‘brake’ on bodily
functions - it slows down the
heart beat and helps return
‘all systems’ to ‘normal’
26 November 2013 Masters BSU
69. Vagal Tone is how well our fight/flight
response and vagus nerve are balanced
and work together.
70. How is the Vagal Tone Activated?
Via Soothing, Compassion and
Physical comfort
Empathy
We learn to self- soothe and
self- regulate from our
relationships with parents and
significant others -attachments
Vagal tone is partly genetic but
also a result of experiences and
environmental stimulus.
71. Vagal Tone
Good Vagal Tone
• Highly responsive:
• Respond quicker,
process information
faster, concentrate
better
• More appropriate and
effective responses to
stimuli
• Return faster to a
normal‘resting state’
Poor Vagal Tone
• Low responsiveness:
• Responds and
process information
not as quickly, less
able to concentrate.
• Less appropriate and
effective responses to
stimuli
• Difficulty returning to
normal ‘resting state
72. Good Vagal Tone is linked to…
Better emotional balance
Clear thinking
Improved attention
More efficient immune system
Greater resilience
73. To support the development of a child’s
Vagal Tone we need to provide…
Secure attachments and
bases
Enabling environments
Repeated opportunities to
share and learn
Repeated opportunity to
recognise, practice and
adapt behaviour
74. Stress: Positive, Tolerable & Toxic
Positive/Healthy Stress
Some stress is a normal part of
life. Learning how to cope with
stress is an important part of
development.
Tolerable/Manageable Stress
More serious and prolonged, but is
buffered by supportive
relationships, human capital and
supportive environments
The extent to which
stressful events have
lasting adverse effects is
determined by:
• Individual’s biological
response mediated by
both genetic
predispositions
•Availability of supportive
relationships
•The duration, intensity,
timing, and context of the
stressful experience.
75. Toxic Stress
Constant activation of the body’s stress response
systems due to chronic or traumatic experiences
in the absence of caring, stable relationships
with adults, especially during sensitive periods of
early development, can be toxic to brain
architecture and other developing organ systems.
Connections in the brain are reduced and lost
through toxic stress.
Less connections means it is more difficult to
utilize the brain capacity and learn effectively
Clip to View:
Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development
Toxic Stress: Fact Sheet Reference Link
76. Detrimental Early Experiences can lead to …
Learning difficulties
Language delay
Lack of empathy
Hyperactivity/disruptive
behaviour
Distractibility
Hypervigilence
Poor impulse control
Lack of compassion
Correlation to adult borderline personality disorder,
multiple personality disorder (Balbernie, 2001, pg. 242)
Clips to View:
Negative Impacts
Toxic Stress of Early Childhood Adversity
78. For Pro-social Behaviour…
• There needs to
be many
opportunities to
share in
empathetic and
nurturing
environments
and experiences
• There needs to
be opportunities
to feel good
about yourself,
it’s not just not
feeling bad
about yourself
that matters
80. Reference and Research
• Balbernie, R. (2001) Circuits and circumstances: the neurobiological consequences of
early relationship experiences and how they shape later behaviour. Journal of Child
Psychotherapy, 27 930, pp.237-255
• Barnes, J. and Lagevardi-Freude, A. (2002) From pregnancy to early childhood: early
intervention to enhance the mental health of children and families. Mental Health
Foundation Vol1
• Blaffer Hardy, S. (2000) Mother Nature. London: Vintage
• DeMulder, E. K., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1991) Attachment with affectively ill and well-
mothers: Concurrent behavioral correlates. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 227-
249
• Fonagy, P. & Target, M. (2003) Psychoanalytic Theories: Perspectives from
Developmental Psychopathlogy. London: Whurr Publications
• Gutman, L.M., Brown, J., Akerman, R. and Obolenskaya, P. (2010). Change in wellbeing
from childhood to adolescence: risk and resilience.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-WBL1001-Brief.pdf
• http://www.learningbenefits.net/Publications/ResRepIntros/ResRep34intro.htm
• Hughes,D. & Baylin, J. (2013) Woburn brain based parenting and attachment focused
therapy, powerpoint delivered at fostering conference
• Infants and Toddlers and the California Mental Health Services Act : Zero to Three Policy
Center Fact Sheet Available at:
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/Infants_and_Toddlers_and_MHSA_AS.pdf?
docID=3861 (Accessed January 23rd
2013)
81. References and Research Contined
• Lyons-Ruth, K., et al. (1990) Infants at social risk: Maternal depression and family support services as
mediators of infant development and security of attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal., 17, 257-275
• Michigan Association For Infant mental Health (2000) Guidelines for Infant Mental Health Practice.
Michigan: The Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health
• National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2000) From Neurons to Neighbourhoods: The
Science of Early Childhood Development. Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood
Development. Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips, eds. Board on Children, Youth and Families,
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington D. C. :National Academy
Press
• O'Connor, T. G., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Heron,J., Golding, J., Adams, D., & Glover, V. (2005) Prenatal Anxiety
Predicts Individual Differences in Cortisol in Pre-Adolescent Children. Biological Psychiatry; 58:211-217
• Pomeleau, A., Succimarri, C. & Malcut, G. (2003) Mother-infant behavioral interactions in teenage and
adult mothers during the first six months postpartum: relations with infant development. Infant Mental
Health Journal, 24 (5), 495-509
• Rees, G., Bradshaw, J., Goswami, H., Keung, A. (2009) Understanding Children’s Well-Being: A national
survey of young people’s well-being. London, The Children’s Society
• Shonkoff, J. (2010) Building a new biodevelopmental framework to guide the future of Early Childhood
Policy, Child Development, 81(1), pp. 357-367 http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=6&hid=101&sid=29ff5ce0-e997-463e-bcdf-98ceafaf9961%40sessionmgr113
• Teicher, M.H. (2002) Scars that won’t heal: the neurobiology of child abuse. Scientific American, March
pp.54-61)
• Teti,D., et al. (1995) Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: An examination of infants,
pre-schoolers and their mothers. Developmental Psychology 31, 364-376.
82. Additional Video Resources
Dr. Clyde Hertzman
Attachment Related Trauma and Mental Health
Teens and Family Attachment
Additional Readings:
Carter,R.(2010) Mapping the mind. London: Phoenix
Conzolino,L. (2013) The social neuroscience of education.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Siegel,D. (2012) The developing mind 2nd
ed. New York:
The Guildford Press.
Seung, S.(2012) Connectome. London: Allen Lane
Editor's Notes
The Approach and assumptions
Complex ontology : Adaption of Bronfenbrenner nested, bio-ecological model 1979 Bio-psycho- social model that recognises the complexity of human existence and that we both construct and are constructed by the world in which we live. We affect and are affected by our interpretations and experiences. Interactionalist and symbiotic
Epistemologically we draw from multiple disciplines to understand and promote well being and resilience as we believe they are interlinked and integral to an holistic understanding of behaviour. We recognise the contributions from recent neuroscientific findings that identifies the physiological processes of behaviour and decision making. There is recognition of a social constructivist stance to knowledge acquisition as well as acknowledgement of accumulative, interactive and temporal influences.
Connectome Project, mirror neurones,
epigenetics, plasticity, temperament,
multi-sensory stimuli, attention, memory & motivation, pruning,
innate & universal emotional response, the autonomic nervous system and Vagal Tone
Internal working model of control, Attachment theory & empathy, enabling environments, evidence based practice
By building a child’s social and emotional capabilities we enable children to be happily engaged with others and with society, and to learn, to develop fully, to attain and to achieve- Allen Report 2011
Brain imaging techniques allow doctors and researchers to view activity or problems within the human brain, without invasive neurosurgery. There are a number of accepted, safe imaging techniques in use today in research facilities and hospitals throughout the world.
fMRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a technique for measuring brain activity. It works by detecting the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity – when a brain area is more active it consumes more oxygen and to meet this increased demand blood flow increases to the active area. fMRI can be used to produce activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.
CT
Computed tomography (CT) scanning builds up a picture of the brain based on the differential absorption of X-rays. During a CT scan the subject lies on a table that slides in and out of a hollow, cylindrical apparatus. An x-ray source rides on a ring around the inside of the tube, with its beam aimed at the subjects head. After passing through the head, the beam is sampled by one of the many detectors that line the machine’s circumference. Images made using x-rays depend on the absorption of the beam by the tissue it passes through. Bone and hard tissue absorb x-rays well, air and water absorb very little and soft tissue is somewhere in between. Thus, CT scans reveal the gross features of the brain but do not resolve its structure well.
PET
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) uses trace amounts of short-lived radioactive material to map functional processes in the brain. When the material undergoes radioactive decay a positron is emitted, which can be picked up be the detector. Areas of high radioactivity are associated with brain activity.
EEG
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain by recording from electrodes placed on the scalp. The resulting traces are known as an electroencephalogram (EEG) and represent an electrical signal from a large number of neurons.
EEGs are frequently used in experimentation because the process is non-invasive to the research subject. The EEG is capable of detecting changes in electrical activity in the brain on a millisecond-level. It is one of the few techniques available that has such high temporal resolution.
MEG
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an imaging technique used to measure the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain via extremely sensitive devices known as SQUIDs. These measurements are commonly used in both research and clinical settings. There are many uses for the MEG, including assisting surgeons in localizing a pathology, assisting researchers in determining the function of various parts of the brain, neurofeedback, and others.
NIRS
Near infrared spectroscopy is an optical technique for measuring blood oxygenation in the brain. It works by shining light in the near infrared part of the spectrum (700-900nm) through the skull and detecting how much the remerging light is attenuated. How much the light is attenuated depends on blood oxygenation and thus NIRS can provide an indirect measure of brain activity.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/types-of-brain-imaging-techniques/
Major divisionSubdivision-Principle structure
ForebrainTelencephalonCerebral cortex
Basal ganglia
Limbic system
DiencephalonThalmus
Hypothalmus
Midbrain
MesencephalonTectum
Tegmentum
Hindbrain
MelencephalonCerebellum
pons
MyelencephalonMedulla oblongata
The brain is the worlds most complex, wholly integrated system of interconnected parts. It has an amazing processing ability. Scientists have yet to get even near to replicating the brain’s unique capacity for managing information.
You will soon have about 30 floating in fluid at an average height of 1.47m above the classroom floor and how these brain’s experience life during the first 5 years and continuing into their school years will influence how they will do so forever.
The major components of the neuron. The cell body or neuron sends an electrical signal down a myelinated axon where it hits a synapses or gap. Here the signal, if strong enough or enduring enough, is converted into a chemical called a neurotransmitter that floats across the gap to a receiving dendrite. If the signal is chemically coded, strong and enduring, it is then passed along to the next neuron.
The effectiveness of the signal depends on how fast the impulse is made. Repeated use (practice of an activity or thought process) coats the axon with a protective sheath called myelin. It is this myelination that assists effective transference of information.
To begin with may feel that learning is slow as if we are forging a new path through an overgrown field but as the journey is travelled again and again the terrain becomes smoother and so the journey becomes quicker.
If the journey is never travelled the path way becomes overgrown and will disappear from view. This process is sometimes referred to as Darwinism, a baby will be born with twice as many brain cells as there are in an adults brain. Some out live their purpose and others were there for insurance purposes.
Typical physiological increase and the effects of experience and environment
As teachers we are in a position to support children's emotional development and provide them with the tools to feel empowered and resilient. Knowledge about the links between physiological and psychological response to stimuli, and the benefits of caring, respectful interations mean
*The physiological adaptions and disruptions include the following systems:-
Metabolic
Neuroendocrine
Neurodevelopmental
Cardiovascular
immune
Cortisol is toxic to the growth & development of the brain- it is produced when the child is stressed and unhappy & depressed along with adrenalin when scared
Their studies were based on previous findings that specific parts of an area of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)--a center for so-called "executive" control of neural processing--are connected to the amygdala. The amygdala is the brain's major center for processing emotional events. The experimental challenge for Etkin, Hirsch, and colleagues was to determine whether this region of the ACC was responsible merely for "monitoring" conflict between cognitive and emotional processing or for actively "resolving" that conflict. Etkin, Hirsch, and colleagues found that the emotional stimuli activated the amygdala as expected. For any emotion, sensations come into our brain from outside and inside, and emotional responses result, responses that we don't have to learn. Culture teaches us different meanings to what other people say and do and different norms for how we should express our emotions, but all the emotions we have are shared by almost all humans because parts of our brain are all wired up the same way. Neuroscientists know that sensations from the outside world, from the spinal cord on up, go to the back part of our brainstem and back part of our cerebral cortex, from where they don't converge on some mythical decision center, but are relayed forward to trigger emotional responses out of the limbic system, including the amygdala, and more symbolic responses out of the more recent parts of our cortex like speech areas.It's not like all that happens independently, though. The idea that we have a war in us between emotion and reason is a typically human oversimplification of many different conflicts between our biology and our culture. It's a war in the minds of some, in the software, but not in their brains, the hardware, where the limbic system and neocortex are thoroughly connected, so most of us do OK at talking about our emotions. At the same time, how we talk about things influences the emotions our limbic system drives. It's not like one exists without the other.None of these places constitute a control center for emotional responses When you feel angry, there is a lot of autonomic and somatic motor activity that tells you you're angry. You feel a surge of energy. You might feel your heart beat faster and the warmth to your skin as your sympathetic nervous system gets ready to be active. Your somatic motor connections cause your muscles to tense everywhere, with your face tensing up in a way everyone would say is angry from looking at it.
Healthy stress
Moderate stress
Toxic stress
Adapt and survive
Resilience
Sympathetic response short and longterm affects on body .It is exhausting
Point 1 link to attachment theory. Discuss the childs ability to up regulate and down regulate using learnt techniques and also the fact that the child has positive reinforcement so sympathetic is not stimulated so often therefore resting vagal tone is lower so calmer.
Link to previous slide and vagal tone result of vagus
CLIP- ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GdALwuYtG8&feature=related
key words Repeated and through consistent modelling, scaffolding and practice clear boundaries
Because of the complexity the three levels are not clinically quantifiable—they are simply a way of categorizing the relative severity of responses to stressful conditions. The extent to which stressful events have lasting adverse effects is determined in part by the individual’s biological response (mediated by both genetic predispositions and the availability of supportive relationships that help moderate the stress response), and in part by the duration, intensity, timing, and context of the stressful experience.