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27 OCTOBER 2008
NO 1365
Brain development
According to Perry (1999) the brain develops in response to its environment. At birth, the brain is endowed with remarkable potential. As individuals gain new experiences the brain produces neuro-networks that could express or suppress that potential. Therefore, experience changes the brain (Perry, 2002). For example, a child who is neglected may miss the critical periods for optimum milestone development such as speech and language development; the potential to talk might be suppressed or hampered when a child is in a neglectful environment.
Perry (1999) also states that timing is critical in that experiences during the organization of the neural system, up to the age of three years, have more impact than experiences after the system is fully organized. Neurons are designed to change in response to patterned repetitive sensory stimulation such as singing the same song over and over or repeating the name of a colour, in order to develop appropriate responses and help the brain organize. When sensory input is chaotic or inconsistent, dysfunction occurs in brain development and results in psychological disturbances (Van der Kolk, Roth, Pelcovitz, Sunday, & Spinazzola, 2005). While experience may alter the behaviour of an adult, experience literally provides the organizational framework for the brain structure of infants and children (Perry, 1999).
Systems in the brain organize in a “use-dependent” way (Perry, 1999). In other words, the brain becomes used to responding in a particular mode based on a particular pattern. Once the pattern is developed, a response will typically occur each time a stimuli is present. The brain therefore creates a template from which memory can be retrieved, which in the presence of particular stimuli activates a “state” response.
Since the brain develops from the brainstem to the cortex, each part of the developing brain must experience appropriate input in order to develop in a healthy way. When traumatized or neglected, it becomes difficult for the developing brain to build from the lower parts of the brain (brainstem) to the higher levels (neo-cortex) (Perry, 1999). For example, a child who experienced inconsistent care-giving and unpredictable feeding as an infant may have difficulty moving beyond the midbrain, as he/she may have developed a “state” response to the stimuli of hunger. Consequently, a child may not be able to think about math or spelling when hungry, as these tasks require higher cortical functions. The child is therefore “stuck” in the midbrain or lower brain functions due to hunger, even as the child ages.
The lower parts of the brain are essential to survival. When threatened, clear access to the brainstem is required to regulate heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. In other words, our brain is helping us prepare for fight, flight, or freeze responses when threatened. We do not necessarily need the higher level functioning of the brain at that time; we may only need what will help in that critical moment. When we are not under threat, we have access to other parts of the brain, such as the neo-cortex or the thinking part of the brain. For very young children who feel threatened, a freeze response is typical and may come in the form of dissociation. In the case of an older child, fighting back or fleeing to safety may be the more typical response as he or she becomes less dependent on a caregiver. Consequently, when a child is brought up in an inconsistent chaotic and violent home, the child’s brain would develop lower level brain function responses, heightened anxiety and hyper-vigilance, and would respond to the environment from that area of the brain. These then become the typical responses in any threatening situation.
Given that the brain develops in a “state” responsive way, it would not be unusual to see children who witness domestic violence react in ways that demonstrate this process. When children come into a shelter for example, they have already witnessed violence or heard the violence in the home. Many times shelter staff experience children who seem distant or uncommunicative, which may be a sign that the child has learned to dissociate under threat. The dissociative response may help the child tune out the many frightening behaviors happening in the home because the stimulus is too overwhelming. Staff may also see children who act out and cannot explain why or what is happening for them. Such children are on high alert, they are quick to interpret action as threats and are quick to respond aggressively or act in self-defense (Saigh, Yasik, Oberfield, & Halamandaris, 2007)
PATRICIA KOSTOUROS
Kostouros, P. (2007). Using Perry's Brain Development
Theory to inform interventions in a domestic violence women's shelter.
Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 20, 3. pp. 34-39.
REFERENCES
Perry, B. (1999). Memories of states: How the brain stores and retrieves traumatic experience. In Goodwin, J. and Attias, R. (Eds). Splintered Reflections: Images of the body in trauma. Basic Books: New York, NY.
Perry, B. (2002). Neurodevelopmental impact of violence in childhood. In Schetky, D. and Benedek, E. (Ed). Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc: Washington, DC.
Perry, B. (2002). Childhood experience and the expression of genetic expression: What childhood neglect tells us about nature and nurture. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from www.childtrauma.org/ctmaterials/MindBrain.pdf
Saigh, P. Yasik, A. Oberfield, R. & Halamandaris, P. (2007). Self-Reported anger among children and adolescents. Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment, 29, 1. pp. 29-37.
Van der Kolk, B., Roth, S., Pelcovitz, D., Sunday, S., & Spinazzola, J. (2005). Disorders of extreme stress: The empirical foundation of a complex adaptation to trauma. Journal of traumatic Stress, 18, 5. pp. 389-399.
