Download Building Healthy Brain Architecture – The Ingredients How Early

Megan R. Gunnar, Ph.D.
Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor
Institute of Child Development
University of Minnesota
•  Genes play a critical role in
the development of the
brain and in our health
•  Genes are recipes for
proteins. The recipes in
your genome cookbook
determine which proteins
you can make and how
you will make them.
•  Some gene recipes are
very sensitive to the
context in which they are
made
How Early Experiences Alter Gene
Expression and Shape Development
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
Poor Self Regulatory Competence
Building Healthy Brain
Architecture – The Ingredients
4 risky genes
3 risky genes
2 risky genes
1 risky gene
0 risky genes
Sensitivity to
Context
Plasticity Genes
High
Low
Quality of Caregiving
Belsky & Beaver, 2010
Genes Carry Instructions that Tell
Our Bodies How to Work
Gene
Neuron
Nucleus
DNA
Chromosome
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Early Experiences Leave Lasting
Chemical “Signatures” on Genes
External
Experience
Epigenetic
“Signature”
Turns Gene
On or Off
Gene
Regulatory
Proteins
Early Experiences Alter How Genes
Work
Maternal diet change
during pregnancy
causes changes to
offspring’s
fur color,
obesity,
and cancer risk
in genetically
identical mice.
Source: Jirtle & Skinner (2007)
Experience Affects Stress Response for a Lifetime!
How Experience Influences Genes
CH3 CH3
Stress Response
Stress Response
Restraint
Time
Source: Levitt (2008),
adapted from Liu et al. (1997)
CH3
CH3
Glucocorticoid receptor gene
Restraint
Language
Sensory Pathways
(Vision, Hearing)
Time
Source: Levitt (2008),
adapted from Liu et al. (1997)
Higher Cognitive Function
FIRST YEARS
-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Birth
birth
6 years
14 years
(Months)
(Years)
Source: C.A. Nelson (2000)
2
As Early as 3 Years, Brain Systems Need to Pay
Attention More Mature If Parents are More Educated
1200
Story A
Click 1000
College Educated
Parents
Attention Signal
800
Working Class
Parents
600
Welfare
Parents
400
200
16 mos.
24 mos.
Story B
Click
Story A
36 mos.
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
Environment of Relationships
Neurodevelopment
Requires Stimulation
Human Infant is Unable to Provide
Itself Adequate Stimulation for Neurodevelopment
Secure Relationships Calm Children’s
Stress Hormone Response
Interaction as Serve and Return
.3
Increase in
Cortisol
.2
.1
0
Secure
Insecure
Attachment Relationship
-.1
Source: Nachmias et al. (1996)
3
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
The Brain Architecture of
Memory and Learning
Δ Cortisol
Sensitive “Serve and Return” Care by
“Babysitters” Buffers Stress Hormones in 9month-olds
High
Low
Sensitive/Responsive Care
Gunnar et al., 1992
The Brain Architecture of
Anxiety and Fear
Experiences in childhood have a
lasting impact on how our
fear and anxiety systems work
early positive experiences
A balancing act
New homeostatic
‘set point’
homeostasis
Experiences in childhood have a
lasting impact on how our
fear and anxiety systems work
early
negative experiences
A balancing act
New homeostatic
‘set point’
homeostasis
4
Sources that can Produce
Toxic Stress in Young Children
3.5
100%
Odds Ratio
Children with
Developmental Delays
•  Risk Factors
Neglect
Abuse
Exposure to Violence
Parental Mental Illness
Parental Substance Abuse
Homelessness/High Mobility
Death of parent
Incarceration of Parent
Etc.
80%
60%
40%
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
20%
0.5
1-2
3
4
5
6
Number of Risk Factors
7
0
1
2
Research on the biology of
stress helps explain why toxic
stress produces effects on
learning and behavior and
increases the risk for physical
and mental health disorders
3
4
5,6
Adverse Experiences
Source: Barth et al. (2008)
7,8
Source: Dong et al. (2004)
Institutionalization and Neglect of Young
Children Disrupts Body Chemistry
35%
Percent of
Children
with
Abnormal
Stress
Hormone
Regulation
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Middle Class US Toddlers
in Birth Families
Neglected/Maltreated Toddlers
Arriving from Orphanages Overseas
Source: Gunnar & Fisher (2006)
5
Logical Reasoning/
Attention/
Impulse
Control
Typical neuron—
many connections
Fear/Anxiety
Damaged neuron—
fewer connections
Memory
For Facts
Bock et al. (2005)
Larger Amygdala Response to Threatening Faces for
Youth with Early Histories of Deprivation and Neglect
r = 0.46, p<.007
n = 34
Mahue, Dozier, …..Pine, Ernst (2010) Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 10
Tottenham et al., 2010
Stress Impacts
the Immune
System
Source: Pollok &
Kistler (2002)
6
Early
Childhood
50%
Percent of adults
with biological 40%
marker for greater
risk of heart disease
(increased blood 30%
level of CRP)
Conception
Early
Adversity
Maltreated
(as a child)
Source: Danese et al. (2008)
Depression
(age 32) +
Maltreated
(as a child)
Adulthood
Physiological
Disruption
•  Neurodevelopmental
Environmental
Exposures
Malnutrition
10%
Adolescence
Biological
Embedding during
Sensitive Periods
Toxic Stress
20%
Middle
Childhood
•  Immune
•  Metabolic
•  Neuroendocrine
•  Cardiovascular
Low
Income
20%
Disease/
Disorder
Health-Threatening
Behavior
Early
Death
Low Educational
Achievement
Cumulative Burden
over Time
PRESENTED BY MEGAN R. GUNNAR
Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight
University Professor
Institute of Child Development
University of Minnesota
[email protected]
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