Crucial Facts Re: Development of the Human Brain (critical/abuse)

When it comes to verbal abuse (any abuse for that matter) I cannot stress enough the significance it has, directly related to a childs base foundation, and or, key components that establish the adult. In college I had a course on the development of the human brain. What astounded me was something called 'Purging'. This is a cycle that which the brain, actually sets out to destroy any unnecessary cells, kind of like dusting out the cob webs. In other words, the brain recognizes cells that have been utilized more frequently through their 'constant use', and disregards, or destroys cells that are less needed.

Let's say for example, a child plays the piano or beats on a drum (has interest in music or rhythm) and let's say he does this frequently from baby on. The brain recognized those cells (used by the repeated program) as being 'necessary'--or 'used'. It homes in on those particular cells and protects them, giving them their own safe storage box so that they may continue to grow and be utilized. Now let's say, the child rarely engages in books, therefore the cells used for reading will be less necessary, and the brain will work to free up space thus, destroying the reading cells. It does this in order to provide for the growth and stimulation (through repetition/programming) of the more necessary cells, in this case being music.

Of course, I am breaking this down to simply 2 things (music and reading), but the brain is so complex it is' keeping and destroying' a whole lot more than that! Whatever is needed or recognized through constant usage, will be kept. This cleansing of the brain occurs 3 times within the human brain. Once during infancy. 2nd around age 10, and 3rd and final time when the brain reaches adulthood, generally between ages 19-25. This process is vital to the brains function. The bottom line, 'The brain is simply preparing itself for survival' It has no idea what the program is, it simply recognizes repeated programs and patterns, connects to them as necessary for survival, and rids itself from any extras that may hinder survival or cause weakness by overusage. Like a computer that runs slow because too many windows are open. To survive, it must strengthen itself---power up---close some windows!

For a child whose repeated program exists around, violence, verbal assault, criticism etc. (you get it) the brain homes in on these repeated events/or programs, considers them necessary (used a lot) keeps them, and purges let's say, hugs, smiles, adoration, love. The childs brain has no choice but to purge and it will only get rid of what's NOT being utilized. This deturmines the adult.

Each one of us, and who we are as adults is a direct result of our EXPERIENCES. This is a fact. This is why children can be so easily destroyed. Below you will find some additional information that I have pulled from Dr. Kenneth Wesson's website: ScienceMaster.com

I hope you find this informative. Just wait until I post about PUBERTY' That's another very interesting phase of development!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr Kenneth Wesson @ ScienceMaster.com

Just as a blossoming young child goes through growth spurts, there seems to be a similar set of events occurring in the brain. The human brain appears to undergo surprisingly dramatic anatomical changes (fostering corresponding behavioral modifications) during seven key periods. 1. The first is the delicate brain-building and subsequent purging (where the least-used cells and circuits die out) processes, during the prenatal stages months. Prenatal substance exposure can trigger a disruption in any of these important early processes resulting in long term brain impairments (e.g., FAS- fetal alcohol syndrome and deficits caused by poor early nutrition). 2. Adjustments to a specific kind of environment drive the early postnatal brain alterations, during the first year of life. Here, important systems get switched on or not depending on the nature of the sensory input received from the environment. 3. Fine-tuning of skills takes place between the ages of three and six. Around 5 or 6, the brain has reached 90-95% of the average adult volume and is 4 times larger than it was at birth. These are the years when extensive internal re-wiring takes place in the frontal lobes (involving organizing actions, planning activities and focusing attention). 4. Between the approximate ages six and puberty, the parietal lobes begin to show a great amount activity. During this time, the skills for developing language and spatial relations reach their construction "peak." At the end of this period, the impressive growth and connecting rate falls off quickly. After puberty, mastering a new language becomes enormously challenging. 5. Immediately prior to puberty, another spurt in brain cell activity takes place in the frontal lobe (at age 12 in boys and a year earlier in girls). These neural construction projects are suddenly and strangely placed on hold and there is a substantial loss in the frontal lobes for a decade beginning in the mid-teen years. 6. Wholesale renovations take place during puberty and the teen years (hormonal changes, alterations in the body’s biochemistry, physical growth spurts, etc.). These massive changes are so incapacitating that there is now an increasing awareness of why teen-agers (along with chemotherapy patients) need to sleep longer, which more than justifies a later starting time for middle and high school students. 7. The last stage is adulthood, where (although the size of the brain remains the same) the trillions of connections in the brain continue to rearrange themselves constantly throughout our years as parents, workers, job-changers, spouses, etc. in our ongoing effort to adjust to our life, environment and circumstances. That the adult brain makes such neurophysiological changes is shattering many of the traditional assumptions about neural development in humans.