Notes
Nathan Wallis 16 November 2016 NB: Here is a playlist of Nathan on Radio NZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/search/results?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Nathan+Mikaere+Wallis&commit=Search 90s was the decade of the brain - we learned more in this decade than the 300yrs prior and this was due to brain scans. Dead brains don’t show much - anatomy only, brain scans enabled study of the living active brain. What research is saying is that the early years are the ones that are important - research base says teaching early years is the most important job yet funding/salaries/holidays don’t reflect this Research is now showing how intelligent you are isn’t your genes. Previously the assumption was genes were for intelligence No - a child uses the first 1000 (conception onwards) days to gather data to work out what sort of brain it needs to get through the rest of life. With Albert Einstein genes but a wicked stepmother who keeps you in a cupboard, you will turn out dark because of the cupboard, despite having Albert for a dad. In 2004 scientists mapped human gene - human 21000 genomes - less than a fruit fly, now it’s thought we have slightly more. There is a cluster of genes that relate to intelligence but no intelligence gene specifically. Nature _______________________________________Nurture Spectrum Oliver James (Love bombing)- says intelligence is 0% nature. Most scientists would say not zero but it is generally recognised that a genetic component accounts for about 10% (conceptual number only - not a precise scientific one.) Intelligence seems to come with matriarchal line. Longitudinal studies never matched genetic histories - you would expect to find more geniuses clustered in families, if intelligence and success were genetic.In fact, 5 siblings compared are more varied than 5 random strangers pulled off the street and compared. With a marker of age 32 earnings/qualifications a firstborn child will often be the most successful on this scale. Birth order psychology talks about firstborn, middle youngest etc. but neuroscience says Firstborn or Not - two categories only If intelligence was genetic you would give your best genes to the eldest based on this statistic! 70/80 in the gifted class he talked about were first born. Face of main caregiver provides 99% of the firing in the early years of a baby (bit fuzzy on this, not 100% sure what the 99% is - anyone remember?!) - doesn’t have to be mum - outgoing PE teacher dad should stay home if mum is a more passive/non emotive personality! The more minutes your mum’s (or main carer’s) face is in front of you the brainier you will be. And of course a first born child will always get most of this! Just look at the photos! But there are exceptions of course which is why we need a pool of 1000 people for averaging. EG. Dead husband sadness, post natal depression, isolation, financial hardship with the first baby - that baby won’t get the face time etc, then mum meets the new man, marries, is happy and has next child then the second child will end up with more face time. By 12months baby is responding to a complex world (mums face and conversation) and firing up ready for a complex future. Baby gym - less stimulating - wire up less! Orphanage, no stimulation, no wiring up of the cortex at all. Humans have four brains 4 Blue in the brain image - Helmet - Cortex - it’s what a human has but not your dog. Can the dog do it? If the answer is yes, it’s not the front cortex. eg. Plan the future. Read. Frontal cortex is optional. Brains 1,2,3 compulsory Age 25-7 brain fully developed according to latest results (males and females together) Females brains mature faster 18-24 Males 22 and 32 - very successful at long childhoods! 13 years ago thought 10-12 was fully developed - only had a tape measure but not scans. Gender, birth order, milestones - no indication of brain completion! A first born girl at 23 has been an adult for 5 years At 23 her younger brother has 9 years to go to complete his cortex Lesson - Don’t compare siblings! Risk Factors: one parent no educated parent transience mental health issues in parents drugs in parents extended family not in contact not speaking own language Resilience Indicators parent with good attachments to their parents education learning music/languages grandparents at home parent to 12mth, 3 years, 5 years No one thing is a risk factor on its own If you have enough resiliency factors it’s OK In fact, you could argue that you need some risks to develop resilience Brain is geared to react to negative feedback because negative feedback links to survival. Positive feedback doesn’t threaten survival. Pink box on slide that is obscured says “brain stem” Brains 1,2,3 Brain works from bottom up. 1 Stem - Home of fight flight freeze - survival 2 Midbrain Cerebellum - movement 3 Limbic system - mammal/emotional Children are first and foremost Brain 1, 2, 3 THEN cortex, Learning is neuro-sequential Perry BD 2002 Brain Structure and Function (photo above) We don’t stand up straight away because we have attachment - we convince a parent to protect us within 6 months to the point of murder! A baby locking eyes on you is as much a miracle as a horse standing. Holding your head in one spot to fix on your carer is amazing 1/2 a second of mutual looking and you are leaking oxytocin because of attachment - which leads to diad Diad - “dialogue” - 6 months to find that attachment, then their motor skills aren’t going to come properly because attachment isn’t there. Orphanages delay motor skills because no-one there to attach to Ability to control emotions doesn’t come until you are three, For 3 years in adolescence cortex shuts down for renovations 11 year-old has better control It’s not totally closed down because speech is there - JUST yeah, nah, dunno! In Brain science we need to understand that the Survival brain is always in charge, not the learning brain! Survival brain gives permission for learning - so you can learn But the second your brain flips to survival you can’t learn Survival always wins - fight flight freeze - 75% freeze! No choice to make because choice is in the front of the brain, which you can’t access. Jump down to next page - random gap alert! Dimmer between the two rather than an on/off switch. Anecdotal - Looking for your keys - How the scales end up tipping The progression/tip of the scales as your panic increases and you keep returning to the top of the fridge! Cortex not working anymore Scared kids can’t learn Don’t try to teach a scared kid - they are in their brainstem - lizard brain A calmer brain is more intelligent Which is why we have our epiphanies when we are just nodding off to sleep, in the bath, walking etc. You can survive without a highly developed cortex - it is a luxury item Humans in past millennia operated on this premise: Stay alive OR Stay Alive ProCreate Have Sex Protect what you made! Stop the Kids From Dying! :) Contrast Orphanage Kid - Aroused brain stem for three hours between feeds Your kids cry, someone comes, feed, cuddle warmth, in 2 mins they relax and add optional cortex online. Biologically impossible to over-spoil a child under 18 months. if they are comforted/looked at/cuddled, the more receptors they have for stress, which will set them up for dealing with stress later. Can it be changed - YES - but not without intervention But prisons don’t work A “good enough” parent helps build a frontal cortex, Scandinavia pays mothers 80% of their salary to stay home. Raine A. (2009) “Murderous minds - Can we see the mark of Cain? Diad relationship is most important - need to focus our attention and resources there. Culturally informed decision with $50,00 would be to buy high school education. Scientifically informed decision would be to spend it in first 1000 days! Keep parent at home. You can adopt an orphanage kid at 10 but developmentally they are still a baby. You have to build brains from the bottom to the top. Colours, numbers alphabet etc when three might make them dumber if you are doing that kind of “programming” at the expense of free play. Being creative, imagine, etc. Don’t crush creativity. Intelligence is the ability solve problems. Focusing on black and white knowledge only is creating black and white thinkers who have only answers. Creative thinkers keep generating solutions when they fail. Don’t go to literacy and numeracy too early. Things to think about when interacting with kids: I wonder what the tooth fairy looks like? Eg. conversation with two children: Why is the sky blue - first colour in the light spectrum - they are a parrot! Nah - This whole world is a dream I’m having, I’m me and I’m the sky, I’m blue because you said no and now I’m blue! So the sky is blue. This child is dabbling in ideas of duality/making emotional links to colours. Deeper cognition. Free play is not a waste of time between the age of 3-7. The more structure there is in an early childhood centre the more likely it is a child will go to jail! Teaching in the traditional sense interrupts free play. Teaching kids by taking them away from free play will dumb them down. More prone to anxiety and depression - first born issues. Chief science advisor has recently put out a report saying increase in delinquency is because we put too much into teaching cognitive skills too early. I think this is the one he was referring to: http://www.pmcsa.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Improving-the-Transition-report.pdf Piaget - concrete operational kicks in at around 7 Kids the world over start at 6 to get ready - to build up social emotional skills they need to begin instructional learning at age 7. Christchurch School Unlimited Eg of an 11 year old who taught herself to read in two weeks to read twilight series. Had previously shown no interest in reading. Older children will have higher self esteem, do better,in a school setting because they get things first because of their development, think they are smarter - this is fuzzy in my memory - i was texting my husband - anyone want to comment so I can cut paste your comment!? iPads No child under two should be looking at a screen 3-7 can impede creativity or not depending how it is used Homework makes no difference! metacognition - instruments and languages build this because you develop skills to stand back and make connections between them. If you learn a musical instrument it is shown to grow your brain. 99% of learning disabilities are genetic.
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