Applying the Science to Policy and Practice
Washington State legislators find common ground on early childhood issues.
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How neurobiology and developmental psychology are changing the way policymakers and communities should think about the developing child.
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Why a National Scientific Council on the Developing Child is necessary, where it came from, where it is headed, and what it hopes to accomplish by identifying the science-policy gap.
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To reduce risk factors for adult disease in our society, we must tackle the problem of toxic stress in early childhood. A look at the science of toxic stress and the implications for effective policies.
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Testimony of local academic experts combines with evidence from the National Scientific Council to rally bipartisan support for innovative bill.
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Council Member Nathan Fox, Professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, discusses how changes in environmental conditions can help temper the negative effects of a child's predisposition toward fearfulness and anxiety.
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How early deprivation causes serious disruption in the development of brain architecture and in the behaviors related to the affected brain functions. This Q&A with Council Member Charles A. Nelson, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Education and Neuroscience at Harvard University, and the Richard David Scott Professor of Pediatric Developmental Research at Children's Hospital Boston discusses how some brain structures, and the broad categories of development that depend on them, show more "plasticity," or sensitivity to disruption and intervention for longer periods of time, than others. When problems arise, early intervention can help get development back on track. Professor Nelson's research, including his work in Romanian orphanages, demonstrates how new scientific knowledge can lead to better public policy.
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Council Member Ross Thompson, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, discusses the relationship between healthy brain development and the quality of early relationships, "Our studies show that young children learn about the psychological world -- about emotions, cooperation, and themselves -- from the quality of their relationships with parents, from the emotional climate of the home, from their everyday conversations about the day's events, and from other relational experiences," Dr. Thompson says. "Healthy brain development relies on the quality of early relationships." The quality of parent-child conversation is important even before young children are good conversational partners.
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Explores the latest scientific research into how children’s early interactions with parents, caregivers and others directly influence brain development. As this article points out, babies start life as "language universalists" able to distinguish the full range of sounds in the world’s many languages. Science suggests that policymakers and the public should consider our nation’s child-care facilities as "brain-development centers."
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Council Member Deborah Phillips, Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University and Co-Director of Georgetown's Center for Research on Children, discusses the importance of early intervention, detection and prevention as society's first line of defense in supporting healthy development. "Without attention to those issues," says Dr. Phillips, "you're basically taking young children and tying their hands behind their backs from the start -- expecting them to somehow develop normally against all odds."
For information about commonly used terms in Council publications, see Definitions.
