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The environment can help boost your babies brain power

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There is a nature and nurture influence on the development of the brain of your baby. Positive environmental interactions can have a significant positive impact on the development of the brain of your child.

It has been reported by MedicalXpress that the environment can be used as a therapeutic approach which is not invasive to enhance white matter brain health. When a baby is exposed to an environment which is complex in nature and stimulating, with a variety of new sights and sounds along with exposure to language, the developing brain of the baby may be significantly strengthened.

Vittorio Gallo, Ph.D., who is the Chief Research Officer at Children’s National and senior author of this study, says the plasticity in the circuitry of the brain is influenced by the strength, duration and timing of experiences in the environment. Myelin is a fatty substance which forms around nerves and assists nerve impulses to speed from one place to another. The integrity of myelin is influenced by environmental stimuli.

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The lead author of the study, Thomas A. Forbes, says there is a vital feedback loop between myelin plasticity and excitability of neurons. Gallo says that the environment can be considered a noninvasive therapeutic approach that can be used to enhance the health of white matter in the brain. A rich environment with minimal social stressors can help infants and children to grow and to achieve good cognitive function.

Exposing kids to many different positive environmental stimuli has been found to support the health of the brain by increasing the health of myelinated fibers. Other ideas to help increase the brain health of children include exposure to music, active learning, and integrative mind-body training.

It should be kept in mind that the integrity of myelin can be compromised by negative influences such as premature birth, poor nutrition, neglect and social isolation, and illness. This can lead to compromising the ability of a person to carry out basic motor skills and cognitive function.

This study has been published in the journal Trends in Neurosciences. Researchers have found there is a dynamic influence of environmental stimuli on many regions of the brain. Environmental stimuli lead to

changes in white matter in the brains of babies. This has significant implications for cognition, behavior, and motor function. So exposing your baby to a stimulating environment offers a dynamic nontoxic way to help the brain of your baby develop well.

Dr Harold Mandel

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