Education and the Developing Brain

Robbin Gibb and Bryan Kolb

Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience

University of Lethbridge, Canada

What is the prefrontal cortex and

Why does it matter?

A Key Concept for Educators:The prefrontal cortex

1. All mammals have a region at thefront of the brain that acts tosupport cognitive functions necessary toorganize behavior in contexts thatvary over time.

Examples: imagination; social interaction;planning

And the Answers are:

2. The PFC is very late to develop and thismeans that it is profoundly influenced bydevelopmental experiences

As a result many serious mental healthissues can be related to PFC development…

And the Answers are:

Developing the cerebral hemispheres

80 billion neurons1014 connections =An engineeringmarvel…

Your brain is sculpted by alifetime of experiences, especially in the first few years of life.

Migration of Neurons

Cells must migrate to the right region AND the right layer

Brain Cells develop connections over the first 2-10 yrs

Then they are sculpted actively for 20+ yrs

Cell Death and Synaptic Pruning

In humans, PFC pruning continues until about age 30 years!

But the changes in brain and behaviour can be counter intuitive:This shows the correlation between decreasing cortical thickness and vocabulary.

What factors influence PFC development?

A wide range of factors alter both the development

and pruning of synapses. This impacts an amazing array of behaviors.

What factors influence PFC development?

1. Sensory and motor experience2. Early stress3. Psychoactive drugs4. Parent-infant relations5. Peer relationships

What factors influence PFC development?

1. Sensory and motor experienceexample: tactile stimulation

Maternal Massage Kangaroo Care

What factors influence PFC development?

1. Sensory and motor experience2. Early stress

1. Smaller brains2. Larger adrenal glands3. Altered frontal lobe development: decreased

synapses in mPFC and OFC. =abnormal social (play) behaviour=abnormal cognitive and motor behaviour

Moderate Prenatal Stress

What about Teacher-child relationships and the

classroom?Children in grade 1 can be classified by both behavioural and physiological responses: somechildren are very reactive to the class environmentwhereas others are not.

This is modulated both by the teacher-child relationship and the nature of the classroom (stable vs chaotic).

What about Teacher-child relationships and the

classroom?Children in grade 1 can be classified by both behavioural and physiological responses: somechildren are very reactive to the class environmentwhereas others are not.

This is modulated both by the teacher-child relationship and the nature of the classroom (stable vs chaotic).

Success Requires:• Creativity• Flexibility• Self-Control• Discipline

All of these qualities are “executive functions”-EF’s are more important for school readiness

than IQ -Predict math and reading competence thro’

school years

Children with worse self-control at ages 3-11 (stress, loneliness, not physically fit):

• Have worse health outcomes• Earn less• Commit more crimes in the ensuing 30 years

(studies controlled for IQ, Gender, and SES)

Even small improvements in EF can translate into improvements in health, wealth, and lower

crime rate for a nation( Moffitt et al. PNAS 2011) .

Ways to Improve EF function?

• Computerized training or hybrid computer and non-computer games (CogEd)

• Aerobic Exercise, Sports• Martial Arts, Mindfulness Practices (Yoga)• Classroom Curricula

Programs Designed to Enhance EF Development

• Tools of the Mind, Montessori, PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinks Strategies), CSRP (Chicago School Readiness Program), Have Two Important Commonalities:– Don’t expect young children to sit still for long– Reduce stress in classroom: focus on cultivating

joy, pride, self-confidence and social bonding.

Summary of Findings

1. Those with poorest EF’s gain the most– Early training can level the playing field and improve later

academic performance2. Largest differences seen with most demanding EF measures (situations where more executive control needed)3. Must challenge EF’s to continue to see improvements4. EF’s can be improved in children as young as 4-5 yrs.5. EF’s transfer but transfer is narrow

Why does the brain change?

• Brain plasticity offers an adaptive advantage. We can “learn” from our experiences and that should allow us to engage more appropriate behavioural responses in future situations

• Brain changes Behavioural changes

Experience (Environment)• But - Not all brain plasticity is positive! (Think of

habits)

Nature/ Nurture

• No longer a debate • Environment leaves its mark on

our genome and can modulate future gene expression in a sometimes heritable fashion

• The study of how environment leaves its footprint on the genome falls into the domain of Epigenetics

Harry Harlow -early work on surrogate mothers

Epigenetics

• refers to changes in gene expression often mediated by environmental influences that are stable between cell divisions, and sometimes between generations, but do not involve changes in the underlying DNA sequence of the organism.

Methylation

Parenting DifferencesMom Dad

Play Styles

Men• Play differently-more rough

and tumble• Allow more exploration of

their body• Play is unpredictable• Spend 40% of time with

kids in interactive play

Women• Color, draw, read• Don’t permit too much

physical contact• Play in a highly predictable

fashion• Spend about 22% of time

with kids in interactive play

Tag, wrestling, lots of physical contact

Coloring, drawing, board games, lots of control, little contact

Discipline StyleMen• Use a quick discipline

style- over with and move on.

• Expect immediate results

Women• Soften the blow.• Encourage change but want

kids to think about it

Encouragement StyleDads

• Encourage kids to take risks• Don’t coddle- want the child

to stretch their limits• Cheerleader style of

encouragement

Mom• Encourage kids to be safe• Want to be sure the child

feels secure and comfortable with what they are doing

• Lifeguard style of encouragement

Degus. Biparental care of the young

Lab Studies

• Father vocabulary (not mother’s) predicts kids literacy skills even though Dad’s speak fewer words to their kids

• Stronger interpersonal relationship skills• Fewer teen pregnancies, less drug use, less likely to join

gangs, more likely to finish high school• Strong mother attachment predicts none of these things

Strong Father Attachment

Paternal deprivation alters frontal lobe developmentC. Helmeke et al., Neuroscience 163 (2009) 790–798.

Why is this important?

Social hierarchies develop very early (even kindergarten) and the child’s position in the hierarchies can predict physical and mental heath both as children and in middle age…

The hierarchies can be seen in kindergarten play.

The hierarchies influence prefrontal development.

All mammals have play behaviour with

rules

The amount of play affected the complexityof cells in the prefrontal cortex.

One consequence is that the playful brain is more plastic later in life and responds differently to psychoactive drugs…

Conclusion

• Brain Development is prolonged (especially PFC-EF) and profoundly affected by experience.

• Thus the nature/nurture interaction predicts success in school and lifetime health and prosperity.