Michael C. Nagel - Nurturing a Healthy Mind: Doing What Matters for Your Childs Developing Brain

Michael C Nagel PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Science and Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where he teaches and researches in the areas of human development, educational psychology, behaviour and learning. Dr Nagel has written a number of books and articles related to neurological development in children and has delivered over 200 workshops and seminars for parents and teachers nationally and internationally. He is also a member of the prestigious International Neuropsychological Society and a feature writer for the Child series of magazines, which offers parenting advice to more than one million Australian readers.

This book is dedicated to Emily. What I have learned about the developing brain is nothing compared to what Emily has taught me about being a loving and compassionate parent.

Introduction

I remember the day we took our first child, Madeline, home from the hospital. We had read plenty of parenting articles and received more advice from family, friends and colleagues than we were capable of remembering. To be honest, much of it we chose to forget. We had also waded through a sea of books on parenting, each with its own take on child rearing and how not to commit the misguided sins of days gone by. Yet, as I opened the door to the car, strapped Maddie into her government-approved baby safety capsule and checked her harness with the zeal of someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the question above kept reverberating in my mind ... what shall we do next? We had a new life in our hands; a beautiful daughter who was beginning to experience her first days out of the maternity ward along a protracted journey to independence.

Like all of those who will read this book, I have experienced many new things in my own life and, indeed, life is full of beginnings. However, nothing I had ever done prepared me for the overwhelming reality of raising another human being. The vast majority of my experiences with children were during my days as a schoolteacher and coach, and while this might have given me some insights into Maddies future educational endeavours, I felt uneasy about my adequacy in having to deal with the tiny and vulnerable being sleeping in the back seat. I am assuming this sounds familiar to you and you may, at this very moment, be feeling something similar. Well, I have some good news! Take heart! Youre not the first to have these doubts and you wont be the last, but at least you have an opportunity to know so much more about child development than I did over a decade ago and so much more than previous generations.

Interestingly, the reason why we know so much more today than our grandparents can be traced back to 17 July 1990. The 1990s were an amazing decade of change. Germany became a unified nation, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union fell apart, Princess Diana and Prince Charles called it quits, the World Wide Web became available to the masses, Jurassic Park was a hit movie and on 17 July 1990 President George Bush (senior) signed Presidential Proclamation 6158 dedicating the 1990s as the Decade of the Brain, thus making brain research a matter of important public policy (presidential proclamations are important initiatives of the US Congress signifying an emphasis on funding into areas of research deemed of major importance). Much of the initial research originating from this proclamation was designed to provide the public with a greater understanding of mental health issues, degenerative brain disorders and the effects of drugs on the brain; however, the signing of the document acted as a worldwide catalyst for research across a number of fields regarding the brain. Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, parents and teachers are seeing the benefits of that work, whereby child rearing and education are being shaped by new understandings of the human brain.

The human brain has been described as the most unimaginable thing imaginable and we still know very little about it compared to what we would like to know. However, we do know that the interactions between our genetic makeup, early experiences and environmental influences shape the architecture of the developing brain and, as such, our understanding of the importance of the early years of life have, thankfully, received much greater attention and scrutiny. We are witnessing a tsunami of research, in conjunction with well-informed individuals, looking to ensure that all children receive the attention they need in their earliest days of life. Parents and early caregivers, therefore, have a great opportunity to tap into the research and provide the best environment possible for healthy child development. That is what this book is about.

The research that has stemmed from Proclamation 6158 has been used here to unlock many important questions and insights related to conception, birth and the early years of life, in particular, the significant life moments that provide us with an informed perspective towards ensuring our children have the best possible chance of healthy development. Specifically, insights into how the brain develops and matures into something entirely unimaginable offer us greater opportunities to make better decisions as parents and educators when we ask ourselves what we should do next.

It probably goes without saying that the vast majority of parents want to do what is best for their children. Often, however, doing what is best may not always happen early enough. For example, if parents knew that about seventeen days after conception the brain starts to take shape and that the consumption of alcohol during the early stages of pregnancy could have long-term consequences on neural development, how many mothers might reconsider when to stop drinking? In terms of healthy foetal development, perhaps knowing that waiting until a test confirms pregnancy might be too late would force some parents to reconsider their lifestyle choices. Perhaps this knowledge would persuade prospective parents that when the decision to start trying to have children is made then a decision to stop drinking might also need to be made. You see, our understanding of the intricacies of the brain has changed and with that must come changes to our understanding of doing what is best for our children.

Since President Bushs proclamation was made we have learned a great deal about the brain. Indeed, 95 per cent of the neuroscientists who ever lived are alive today and brain research continues to grow exponentially.

New research has provided us with opportunities to debunk old ideas about the brain and child development and to move forward in our understanding of that gelatinous mass between our ears. For example, neurobiological research tells us that the longer we wait to assist children who are at the greatest risk of poverty, neglect or abuse, the more difficult it becomes to help those children in the future grow into productive and healthy adults. In other words, we have learned that the experiences that fill a childs first days, months and years have a profound and decisive impact on the overall development of their brain which, in turn, will impact on the nature and extent of their adult capabilities. This book, therefore, also offers the reader an opportunity to look at that information and the ideas noted above in a more detailed fashion. It places early childhood experiences and development within a neurological framework and connects this with new ideas related to learning, development and the future lives of children. That being said, there are some important points to consider before examining the research.