Running head: DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 1

Developing Person through the Life Span

Student’s Name:

Institutional Affiliation:

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 2

Developing Person through the Life Span

The human brain will develop through different stages across the life span. In

each stage of development different optimal conditions will be necessary such as sleep in early

infant stages and other important stages such as parent/ child bond as a child grows. This paper

reviews different aspects related to the brain development of a child.

Why is the newborn mortality rate much higher in some countries than in others?

Different factors will cause varying of newborn mortality rates across

countries. The US has relatively higher infant mortality rates when it is compared to other first

world countries such as the UK or Germany. In 2014 more than 23, 0000 infants died in the US

which equated to at least 6 children dying in every 1000 live births. This was in stark contrast to

the rates of at least 2 to 3 deaths out of every 1000 children born in cultures such as Australia,

Finland, and Israel (Chen, Oster, & Williams, 2016). There are therefore many reasons why the

newborn mortality rates are much higher in the US compared to other first world countries. The

fists reason in the varying of the preterm newborn mortality across countries. The term infant/

newborn mortality refers to the death of children under the age of one year. In some countries,

children who are born prematurely and die are counted as stillbirths. In the US the premature

babies are considered as born despite them having relatively low levels of survival. This

accounts for the higher newborn mortality rates in the US (Chen et al., 2016). The lack of access

to universal prenatal care also contributes to high rates of newborn mortality in the US. This is

even made worse by the high number of unplanned pregnancies with at least 50 of pregnancies in

the US being planned. This group may not get early prenatal care which can increase the risk of

newborn mortality. A higher population of less educated and low-income populations in the US

compared to other first world countries also contributes to high newborn mortality rates (Pabayo,

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 3

Cook, Harling, et al., 2019). Infants born to better educated and wealthier parents will therefore

seem to have a slightly better survival rate compared to infants from low income and lesser-

educated parents. This might therefore be due to the high prevalence of Sudden Infant Death

Syndrome (SIDS) and unintentional injuries among these populations. This, therefore, results

from such groups not flowing recommendations such as sleep recommendations. The racial and

ethnic differences in newborn mortality may also explain why the US has high newborn

mortality rates than Europe. For example, Native American and African American babies will be

at a higher risk of SIDS compared to Caucasian, Hispanic, or Asian American babies (Pabayo,

Cook, Harling, et al., 2019).

What should caregivers remember of brain development when a baby cries?

When a baby cries, caregivers should remember not to instruct or force the baby to stop

crying as the baby’s brain has not yet developed adequately in a way that they can actively stop

crying. The prefrontal cortex will be one of the last parts of the brain to mature. The prefrontal

cortex will be responsible for impulse control, anticipation, and planning (Haartsen, Jones, &

Johnson, 2016). In the early years of infancy, the prefrontal cortex will be inactive to a large

extent and will grow and become more efficient as the baby matures. As a result of having an

underdeveloped and inactive prefrontal cortex, a baby cannot control their impulses such as

crying. Caregivers should therefore not force babies or instruct them to stop crying as babies do

not yet have this ability (Haartsen et al., 2016).

Why is explicit memory difficult for babies under 2 years of age?

Explicit memory is the memory that will be available to conscious awareness and can be

directly accessed through recalls, tests, and recognition memory. Explicit memory is also

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 4

referred to as episodic memory because it is made up of episodes and occurrences in a person’s

life (Haartsen et al., 2016). For example, a person can vividly describe what they ate for

breakfast and the conversations they have had with their mothers a week ago. A person can also

remember long terms events such as visits to their grandparents when they were just 5 years of

age. Explicit memory will be difficult for babies below the age of 2 years. This will be a result

of the hippocampus which is the part of the brain that will be responsible for memory not being

mature yet. As the hippocampus continues to grow past 2 years of age the child’s explicit

memory thus improves consistently (Haartsen et al., 2016).

How does evolution explain the parent-child bond?

The parent-child bond in human beings and some primates has evolved in a way that has

resulted in such bonding occurring even outside the contexts of parnutrition and pregnancy and

even in the absence of lactation (Broad, Curley, & Keverne, 2016). This evolution has been

characterized by neural changes over thousands of years. Human beings and some primates have

therefore evolved in a way that the hormones of lactation, pregnancy, and parturition will not be

necessary for the parent-child bond to be available. The parent-child bond in humans and in

some primates thus exist even long after pregnancy and childbearing. Some studies have

suggested that human beings and some primates have evolved and developed endogenous

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 5

opioids systems that help sustain the parent-child bond even long after parturition and suckling

age (Broad et al., 2016). The role of the endogenous opioid system in promoting the parent-child

bond has been effectively proved in monkey experiments with such monkeys showing fewer

concerns for their infants after naloxone treatment. In humans, the parent-child bond has been

found to greatly reduce among mothers who take heroin which reduces the functionality of the

endogenous opioid system. Studies have shown that only 50% of children born of heroin mothers

live with them by the time they are 1 year of age. By school age, only a mere 12% of children

with heroin-addicted mothers remain with them. The heroin-addicted mothers will therefore

abandon the children who are taken up for adoption or raised by grandparents. Opioid addicted

mothers have therefore been found to be less likely to remain as the primary caregivers of their

children which shows a dysfunctional parent-child bond (Broad et al., 2016).

Among humans, the parent-child bond is enhanced in the context of maternal care with

mothers being obsessed with creating safe environments and even cleaning obsessively before

their kids are born. After birth mothers will obsessively check on their children even when they

know they are okay. Over the years humans beings have evolved from what can be referred to as

hormonal centric determination of parent-child bonding to emotional and reward fulfilling

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 6

activation. This process may thus be based on opioidergic and dopaminergic activity which mays

be occurring in the ventral striatum. Through evolution, the parent-child bond in human beings

has therefore grown from being affected by hormones but by reward and fulfillment (Broad et

al., 2016). This ensures that the parent-child bond in humans continues way after birth and

lactation period.

How does father involvement affect infants?

An involved father can be defined as one who will behave responsibly and feel

responsible for a given child. Such fathers will be engaged and physically accessible to their

children, emotionally engaged, and also provide material support to sustain the needs of their

children. Involved fathers will also be involved in childcare and exert influence in child-rearing

decisions (Rollè, Gullotta, Trombetta, Curti, et al., 2019).

Scholarly studies have shown that father involvement will have a positive effect on the

early brain development of children. A study evaluating the cognitive development of infants

whose father was more involved with them in their initial months and actively played with them

performed better in cognitive tests at two years of age (Rollè et al., 2019). Father involvement

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 7

can lead to positive health outcomes among infants such as improved breastfeeding rates and

improved weight gain among preterm infants. The absence of father involvement in the early

years of the child's life can therefore have lasting effects such as hindered development from

infancy, childhood, and adulthood. The psychological effects of the absence of a father figure

among children therefore persist throughout their lives (Rollè et al., 2019). While a number of

factors will be critical in the development of a child quality father- infant interactions also play a

vital role in child development.

Conclusion

In summary, in the US the premature babies are considered as born despite them having

relatively low levels of survival. This account for the higher newborn mortality rates in the US

.The lack of access to universal prenatal care also contributes to high rates of newborn mortality

in the US. This is even made worse by the high number of unplanned pregnancies with at least

50 of pregnancies in the US being planned. This group may not get early prenatal care which can

increase the risk of newborn mortality. When a baby cries, caregivers should remember not to

instruct or force the baby to stop crying as the baby’s brain has not yet developed adequately in a

way that they can actively stop crying. Explicit memory will be difficult for babies below the age

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 8

of 2 years. This will be a result of the hippocampus which is the part of the brain that will be

responsible for memory not being mature yet. As the hippocampus continues to grow past 2

years of age the child’s explicit memory thus improves consistently. Over the years humans

beings have evolved from what can be referred to as hormonal centric determination of parent-

child bonding to emotional and reward fulfilling activation.

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN 9

References

Broad, K. D., Curley, J. P., & Keverne, E. B. (2016). Mother-infant bonding and the evolution

Of mammalian social relationships. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of

London. Series B, Biological sciences, 361(1476), 2199–2214.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.1940.

Chen, A., Oster, E., & Williams, H. (2016). Why Is Infant Mortality Higher in the United States

DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN

10

Than in Europe?. American economic journal. Economic policy, 8(2), 89–124.

https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140224.

Haartsen, R., Jones, E. J., & Johnson, M. H. (2016). Human brain development over the early

years. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 149–

154. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.05.015.

Pabayo, R., Cook, D.M., Harling, G. et al. (2019). State-level income inequality and mortality

among infants born in the United States 2007–2010: A Cohort Study. BMC Public Health

19, 1333 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7651-y.

Rollè, L., Gullotta, G., Trombetta, T., Curti, L., Gerino, E., Brustia, P., & Caldarera, A. M.

(2019). Father Involvement and Cognitive Development in Early and Middle Childhood:

A Systematic Review. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2405.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02405