The Healthier, Happier, Smarter Kid: Stimulating the Young Brain

Parents, teachers and caregivers hear a lot about children’s need for appropriate mental stimulation to learn and develop to their full potential. Children are stimulated by the everyday events of their environment: household activities, other children and pets, and outdoor excursions offer a high level of interest for an infant or young child.

Knowing that brain stimulation can lead to a smarter, happier, healthier child, what methods should parents and caregivers use for purposeful stimulation of a young child’s brain? And when should they begin?

Robert E. Newby, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology in the Medical College of Wisconsin Departments of Neuropsychology and Neurology, tells us that brain stimulation cannot begin too early. In fact, he reports, “Technically, the brain is being stimulated from conception on. A mother’s diet, self-care and avoidance of toxins all contribute to the development of the nervous system, and naturally help to stimulate the brain.”

Brain stimulation for infants and young children is very beneficial, and not at all difficult to do. “Touch, hearing, sight – all the infant’s senses can be stimulated by very simple methods,” says Dr. Newby. “It’s a myth that high-tech gadgets are needed to stimulate a child’s brain. Talk to the child, play with the child, hold the child, comfort the child, and meet his or her physical and psychological needs in a timely manner. That’s really the main thing that’s needed.”

For the Very Young, Simplicity Rules
As far as the use of specific activities to stimulate a child’s brain, simpler is better. “Until a child begins to be capable of forming values, it doesn’t matter if their taste is Mozart, MTV, or Barney,” explains Dr. Newby. “Activities like watching television, listening to music, being read to, and talking with you are stimulation enough for most children.”

The fancy programs or innovative products things that are being sold to parents as brain-stimulators are largely under-researched, says Dr. Newby, and although they could be helpful, they offer little beyond theories at this point. The studies done on the subject of stimulation of young minds are few, and the results are often debatable. But an endorsement by “a scientific study” – however small – is certainly good for business.

Dr. Newby offers as an example a program that claims to have found a link between children who listen to the music of Mozart and higher math skills. We need to ask why these “important studies” have not been replicated, he says, and why research into the methods has not been continued.

Another product Dr. Newby cited is the Fast ForWord literacy series. The study that led to the development of Fast ForWord was well-designed and scientific, he says, but the results are widely controversial. “The understanding of exactly why the program has a positive effect is unclear. Intensive training in one area is indeed likely to show benefits in that area, but is it helpful to children in their everyday life? Is it beneficial beyond the testing in that one area?” We just don’t know.

Variety Promotes Awareness
Dr. Newby emphasizes the importance of balance in the stimulation of a young person’s brain. Using a variety of methods enhances well-rounded learning. Recent research into reading disabilities point to the problem of “insufficient phonemic stimulation.” What’s that? “Well, that means not enough Dr. Seuss!” says Dr. Newby. Word play in the form of rhymes and songs is apparently quite important to the development of reading skills.

“Reading to a child of any age is a good way to stimulate his or her brain, but don’t stick to one type of book,” Dr. Newby advises. “Yes, it’s nice to read Mother Goose over and over, but phonemic awareness occurs with variety.”

In other words, reading the newspaper, a magazine or other materials with children helps them to develop the ability to recognize many different sounds. In addition, the psychological stability that comes from reading together is almost as important to the child as the reading itself.

"Know your child," says Dr Newby. “Children have different strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed. One might have a weakness in language skills, while another might need more stimulation in sound or sight skills.” These individual characteristics should be discovered and nurtured in each child, while maintaining a balance of stimulating activities.

Watch for Learning Disabilities
“Learning disabilities are usually not discovered until a child begins school. It’s very difficult to see a problem before that,” reports Dr. Newby. Learning disabilities have generally been seen as an unexpected delay in academic skills such as reading, math and writing, but now include listening and speaking skills as well.

Dr. Newby emphasizes the importance of discovering learning disabilities as early as possible. This allows parents, caregivers, specialty teachers and physicians to begin assisting children in forming better learning habits. “The earlier the treatment begins, the better the outcome,” says Dr. Newby. But children should never be labeled “Learning Disabled” without careful evaluation, nor should they be treated for learning disabilities if none are present.

Federal law is moving toward earlier screening and prevention of childhood learning disabilities, Dr. Newby says, and he hopes that legislation will soon pass which would make it unusual for schools to label a child Learning Disabled until mid-elementary school. This will help children obtain the screening, diagnosis and treatment they need, at the first opportunity.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the possible causes of learning disabilities are too numerous to name. A leading theory is that they are caused by subtle disturbances in brain structures and functions. Relatively few learning disabilities are caused by experiences such as head injury or lead exposure. But be aware of those occurrences, and keep a watchful eye for reactions to them, Dr. Newby advises.

A Promising Future
Dr. Newby says there are “hopeful glimpses” of more stimulating learning environments for children. Ideas like the Fast ForWord series, the Mozart/Math theory, and studies regarding other brain-stimulating opportunities for infants and children are bringing a new awareness to teachers, caregivers and parents who want children to have every opportunity to learn and develop.

Dr. Newby urges caution, though, and reminds us to find out as much as we can about the programs in which we involve children. In closing, he says, “Professionals should mainly communicate to parents that being nice and taking good care of our kids is mostly what it all boils down to.”

P.J. Early
HealthLink Contributing Writer

This article includes information from the National Institutes of Health (www.nih.org) and Learning Disabilities Online (www.ldonline.org).

For more information on this topic, see the articles The Facts about Learning Disabilities, and Diagnosing Learning Disabilities and One in Every Classroom: Kids with ADHD Struggle to Make the Grade.

MCW Health News presents up-to-date information on patient care and medical research by the physicians of the Medical College of Wisconsin.