Turn-of-the-century child development theory has been overturned. The 100-years-old idea that genes govern infant and child development and that ‘nudges’ toward development are detrimental has been exploded. The light of current research reveals that playful, creative challenge and stimulus is critical to learning, perception and physical development. Researcher Audrey van der Meer’s work shows that “development of our brain, sensory perception and motor skills happen in sync” and “even the smallest babies must be challenged and stimulated at their level,” as reported by NTNU’s Gemini Research News.
The importance of the “in sync” activity of all three developmental areas — cognition, sensory perception, fine and large motor skills — is that without development in one, through limits to challenges and stimulus, there will of necessity be limited development in the other two: All three develop in synchronization with each other, as reported in Science Daily.
Brains’ Patterns of Electrical Activity
Professor and neuropsychologist Audrey van der Meer of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), has for many years used advanced EEG (electroencephalogram) technology to measure electrical activity in the brains of hundreds of babies. Looking something like characters in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” with electrodes positioned all over their heads and on their faces, babies’ responses to stimulation and challenges have been recorded by van der Meer as patterns of their brains’ electrical activity. From years of data collection and study, van der Meer has shown that “nerve cells in very young children build up to a thousand new synaptic connections per second,” as reported by NTNU through AlphaGalileo media service.
Nudges of Parental Stimulation Spur Development
Van der Meer, performing her research in Norway, contrasts development of babies and children in Western cultures to that of those in African and Asian countries. Milestones like rolling over, sitting up or standing up alone and potty training occur, spurred on by “nudges” of parental stimulation, at much earlier ages in Asia and Africa. Van der Meer ties the need for what she calls “early intervention” to the need for competent caregivers in kindergartens and other daycare programs: Caregivers need to be trained in how to provide stimulus and challenges, at the appropriate levels, for even the youngest babies. Educators have adapted the term “early intervention” to school-age situations of learning difficulties, but van der Meer means early stimulus intervention in the development of “even the smallest babies,” as explained by NTNU. Van der Meer’s research results show synapse connections grow most and best when babies and children are not left on their own to quietly experience the unfolding of their genetic fate.
Unused Synapses Die Out Very Early
Van der Meer explains the experience of Chinese babies, who differentiate the /r/ and /s/ sounds when four months old, to show through the example of language that synapses when not used disappear in a very brief time. By the time Chinese babies are eight months old, they can no longer distinguish the /r/ and /s/ sounds, a sound distinction not needed in the Chinese language. An important dual result uncovered by van der Meer’s research is the disappearance of unused synapses and the strengthening of stimulated synapses. A wide range of development challenges and experiential stimulus keeps the greatest number of synapses active and the highest degree of cognitive, perception and physical development increasing — babies experiences of the world “must be self-produced” indoors and out and in all weather, according to van der Meer.
Healthy Children and Those with Special Needs
The connection between synapse richness and the presence of challenges and stimulus is equally applicable to the development of healthy children and those with special developmental needs. Lars Adde puts van der Meer’s research to work at St. Olavs Hospital as a pediatric physical therapist and NTNU researcher in the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children’s and Women’s Health. Adde shows parents how to use van der Meer’s research results when working with babies and children who have special developmental needs, and an increasing percentage of babies do have special needs, as he stated to Gemini. Since synapses grow in response to challenge and stimulus in given areas — like sounds that are necessary to language — Adde teaches parents and caregivers to “work at what we want to be good at — like walking.” This synapse-rich approach helps the “child with developmental delays to catch up quickly” by taking early advantage of the brain synapse plasticity.
