Early Isolation Impairs Brain Connections

13 September 2012

After the mice were weaned from their mothers at 21 days old, the researchers reared them in three different environments for 1 month. One group was raised alone, with one mouse per cage. In the second, "normal" group, four mice occupied a cage. The third group grew up in an "enriched" environment: A large cage contained eight mice as well as an assortment of toys.

After 4 weeks, the team introduced the mice in each group to one another and observed how they interacted—including how interested the mice were in exploring each other versus checking out objects in the cages. The difference was clear: Mice raised with four or more companions spent roughly 80% of their time mingling. Mice raised in isolation, however, were indifferent to the other mice; they were just as content to inspect inanimate objects.

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The team also gave the mice a cognitive test, in which the rodents had to remember whether to turn right or left when swimming in a pool of water. With training, mice raised under "normal" conditions and enriched conditions learned to swim in the right direction in about 5 days. But the mice raised in isolation paddled confusedly around the pool, even after 7 days. "It was the same as if they had not been trained," Corfas says.

There was also a striking difference in the rodents' brain tissue, highlighted by the glowing green glial cells. Compared to the complex branched cells of the mice raised in "normal" or enriched conditions, oligodendrocytes in the isolated mice looked oddly stunted: They had fewer and shorter branches, with thinner myelin sheaths around the neuronal axons.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/09/early-isolation-impairs-brain-co.html

The 5 “Rs” of Early Brain Development

Posted on September 13, 2012

As a pediatrician and a mother of three, I know that children thrive when they have lots of people around them to love. Safe, stable, and nurturing relationships build both healthy self-esteem and healthy brains. Early Brain and Child Development (EBCD) is a strategic priority of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the nationwide advocacy organization for pediatricians to promote the health and development of all children.

The “5 Rs” of early literacy helps build the critical social-emotional and language skills that support healthy brain development and pre-literacy skills that are essential to school success.   Parents and caregivers can play with children and teach them at the same time by following a few simple rules:

Read together every day with your child.

Rhyme, play and cuddle with your child several times per day.

Practice Routines, particularly around meals, sleep, and daily activities.

Reward your child with praise for successes to build self-esteem and promote positive behavior.

Develop a strong and nurturing Relationship with your child as the foundation for their healthy development.

Finally by practicing the 5 Rs, you will remember all of the fun you have had with your children and likewise they will have remarkable memories of their early childhoods.

http://askdrterry.me/2012/09/13/the-5-rs-of-early-brain-development/

Social Interaction in Early Life Affects Wiring to the Frontal Lobes

A study published in tomorrow's issue of the journalScience shows that social interaction during a critical period of early life has irreversible effects on maturation of connections to the frontal lobes of the brain, disrupting social interactions and cognitive ability into adulthood. Children suffering severe neglect are known to have cognitive dysfunctions and impairments in social interaction as adults, but the mechanisms were not understood.

The researchers found that reintroducing mice into a normal social environment after the two-week period of isolation did not restore normal myelination or improve performance on tests of memory and social behavior as adults. Moreover, social isolation later in life did not have the same effects as social isolation immediately after weaning. This shows that there is a sensitive period in early life when social interactions are necessary for normal myelination of axons to the prefrontal cortex.

Heidi Johansen-Berg, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, who uses human brain imaging to study how environmental experience changes the structure of the brain, says, "This research adds to a growing body of evidence showing that experience can alter brain wiring. The link between social experience and brain wiring is important... [It] raises hope for potential drug interventions to help to reverse effects of adverse social experiences."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-douglas-fields/social-interaction-early-life-frontal-lobes_b_1864234.html

Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition

Cook’s Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (hereafter LASLA) is a welcome addition to the recent spate of second language acquisition (SLA) texts which have flooded the market. It is unique in its focus on linguistics and SLA, and represents the tremendous growth in SLA research within a UG framework that has occurred in recent years. To my knowledge (as with Goodluck (1991) for first language acquisition), LASLA represents the first such text.
http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume1/ej03/ej03r16/

Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference

26-28 April 2013, Reitz Union

The Departments of Linguistics and Spanish and Portuguese Studies are proud to host the 12th semi-annual installment of GASLA, the premier conference in generative approaches to all instances of bilingual and multilingual acquisition. Plenary speakers include Theodoros Marinis (University of Reading), Bonnie Schwartz (Radboud University/University of Hawaii), and Ianthi Maria Tsimpli (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki/University of Reading). Invited speakers include Joyce Bruhn de Garavito (Western Ontario University), Kook-hee Gil (University of Sheffield), Heather Marsden (University of York), Roumyana Slabakova (University of Iowa), David Stringer (Indiana University), Lydia White (McGill University), and Melinda Whong (University of Leeds).

Sponsored by the UF Department of Linguistics, the UF Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, the  John Benjamins Pubilishing Company, and UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere.

• This event is free and open to the public.
• Registration information will be available here: http://www.gasla12.com/registration.html.
  
  
  http://www.humanities.ufl.edu/calendar/20130426-GASLA.html

Every word matters: Communication and language from the very beginning Friday 30 November, London BOOK NOW using code 20TTYB50 for a 20% discount* Speakers include: Professor John Oates from the Open University Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning Naomi Eistenstadt CB from Oxford University Dr Elizabeth Kirk, Hertfordshire University About the event This November’s Talk To Your Baby conference looks at pre-birth to the end of the foundation years, with a particular focus on the way in which attachment, communication and language promote positive futures for two-year-olds. Delegates from across the early years will hear in-depth and engaging reviews of policy, research and practice.  http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/events/76

Early childhood provides a window of opportunity

Early childhood provides a window of opportunity to dramatically shape a child’s brain when it is rapidly developing, and quality early childhood programs help children develop the linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional building blocks that help them succeed in school.
http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26908:early-childhood-educators-head-back-to-school&catid=43:education&Itemid=324