Carol Stovold Quality Kidz www.qualitykidz.co.nz Tauranga

Over the past month teachers and educators at our childcare service have been attending a number of seminars from the Brainwave Trust centred around brain research and the impact this scientific knowledge has on how we interact with children.

So much of this has been relevant to our practices and beliefs about how children learn, environments that support children to grow and learn and how we can best ensure children are able to reach their greatest potential. Here are some key points from the seminars that I think you'll find most interesting:

1. The 1990s is called the decade of the brain. Basically medical technology, with the invention of the MRI scan, enabled scientists to fill a 300-year knowledge gap about how the brain works by enabling study of living brains.

2. Humans have four brains. The reptilian brain which is made up of two - a brainstem (survival functions) and midbrain(movement), mammalian brain which includes the limbic system (emotions) and the human brain which has the previous three plus a cortex (advanced thinking).

3. The brain re-patterns and completely re-wires itself between the ages 14 – 17. Hence the reason teenagers need almost as much sleep as a newborn baby. The brain reaches adulthood at around 26 years of age.

4. Talking to each other is the action that most engages the brain. Interaction with other people is where real learning takes place.

5. To stretch your brain fill it with new learning - try a skill that is opposite to what you have already learnt. New novel learning stretches the brain further.

6. In 2001 scientists were able to map the human genome. They discovered that 30 per cent of genes are set at birth. These are the ones that determine what colour your eyes will be etc. The other 70 per cent is filled in the greatest data-gathering period of your entire life, from 0 – 3 years of age.

7. Attachment is the driver of brain development and interaction.

8. 'You'll spoil that baby by picking them up all the time and pandering to their needs” - A spoilt baby is a cultural construct. In terms of brain development, there is no such thing as an overindulged baby when it comes to having their needs for food, sleep, physical care, reassurance, hugs and love met.

9. The greatest biological gift you can give to a child is to breastfeed. Breast milk feeds the brain.

10. Men's brains are larger than a woman's.

11. The part I enjoyed the most - Women's brains are more evolved and function more efficiently than men's. The corpus callosum is more detailed and can jump from task to task quicker. In relative terms women have a six lane super highway – men have a swing bridge.

Next week – More on the brain and human survival.