Tag: brain development

If you’re a new parent, you’ve likely spent a lot of time researching ways to improve your baby’s cognitive skills. Traditional wisdom is that a child’s environment after birth fosters their ability to learn. Although strategies like listening to music and observing colorful mobiles stand the test of time, current research indicates that the capacity for intellectual development originates even before a baby is born.

If you think that means genetic inheritance, think again. Although genes contribute to intelligence, their influence is limited.

It’s no secret that childhood experiences affect adult behavior. For example, we all know that kids who grow up in an abusive home are more likely to abuse others or to be abused as adults. Yet for some reason, we still think that with a strong dose of old-fashioned willpower, people can take responsibility and overcome their relationship issues. The classic American pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps attitude conquers all… doesn’t it?

Well, no. Neurological science shows that the truth is much grimmer.

During the early weeks and months of life, your infant is constantly growing and developing, and as a parent, you play a pivotal role in supporting that development. It’s important to know that expensive equipment and fancy toys are not required to foster your child’s development. Instead, go back to the basics and carry out a variety of simple, retro activities with your little one. You and your infant will have loads of fun and you’ll be fostering your child’s attachment to you, while also promoting brain development and confidence.

As an infant, toddler, child, adolescent, and deep into our adulthood, we progressively leap to higher levels of adaptation to the world around us and our place within it. The family we have and build around us affects nutrition, physical activity, and attachment style. We are embedded within a particular society within a cultural context. All these factors contribute to our "self"-organization. One means by which the "self"-organizes is through the relationship between child and parent.