The pioneering child development study monitoring babies’ brains

Henry, 2, is fully translated by his previous iPad. Every time Smiley’s face appears, he taps the screen, and his tap turns his face into a dancing animal cartoon.

It looks like a simple and repetitive game, but it’s actually a test of basic skills that are developing in the growing brain of toddlers. Henry wears a cap with a sensor, and wires appear, attached to a large part of the analytical machine. While Henry plays the game, Cap scans the activity of his brain and builds a picture of how well he has control over his decisions.

This is a test of inhibitory control, and one skill scientist at the University of Bristol measures in babies and toddlers as part of his mission to understand how to develop the ability to enable young children to focus and learn.

Scientists already know that these skills are important – but they still don’t know at what point they are established in the infant’s brain.

The development of hundreds of children between the ages of six months and five is being tracked to form important skills that shape academic and social competence.

But what really special about this pioneering project is that it is a human experiment in decades more human experiments. The mother of 300 children who are studying were babies in the 1990s, and is part of a project that has been monitoring their health.

Lifetimes of data have been collected that could reveal the link between the brain development of children currently being studied and parental health, experiences, and genetics.

It is “completely unique in the world” to have all this wealth of information about parents for research into child development, says lead researcher Dr. Cara Holmbo.

“We need to know when different skills develop and understand how individual children develop over time.”

Children who struggle when starting school tend to continue struggling, explains Dr. Holmbo.

“It can even last until adulthood, so we have this whole period of development that we need to understand, and we can support our children at a much younger age.”

During the study, young participants and their parents are invited to the university psychology lab to play scientific games and measure brain activity. Many people perform MRI scans at age 6 months, 3 years and 5 years, creating true pictures of young brains.

Smiley Face Game Key Henry is where his face appears on the iPad screen. It starts to appear randomly on the other side as well, as the toddler becomes accustomed to the face that repeatedly pops up on the right side of the screen.

“We’re looking at whether Henry can resist the urge to keep tapping on the right,” explained research assistant Carmel Blau, who said, “We’ll look for where Smiley’s face is instead.”

This skill is important when children start school, Dr. Holmbo explains.

“In the classroom, children should focus and not let their attention be wafted,” she says. “To learn new things, you need to be able to stop old habits.”

In another room, two-year-old Jackson plays a game designed to test his working memory.

Your research assistant will encourage you to watch stickers be placed in various pots. The toddler is then asked to remember which pots do not contain stickers. Motivational factors? Jackson can hold all the stickers he finds.

“Working memory is when you remember where you keep a little information in your head to solve a problem, or you can perform a task like a puzzle, or where you placed something two minutes ago,” explains Dr. Holmboe. “You can imagine that these skills are necessary for children when they learn math or read.

“These are what I call ‘building blocks’ of truly important skills. ”

This study also evaluates language development and processing speed. This is a measure of how quickly children pick up new information.

Children from the 90s project I’m currently 35 years old. By following 14,500 children born between 1991 and 1992, we uncovered insights into the impact of the pandemic on obesity, autism and, more recently, mental health.

Data for the project has become available to scientists around the world and has been cited in thousands of scientific papers.

One study on children’s diet in the 90s shows that children’s noisy diets are often worried, but that It is unlikely to have a lasting impact About their health and development.

It also revealed that one in five young people may have signs of fatty liver disease, and one in 40 may have liver scars, thanks to the repeated health screens that are key to the project. This shows how common the condition is and provides insight into how it can be prevented through diet.

And the scientific revelation continues. Last month, the study revealed that Children who lacked oily fish during their meals were kind rather than sociable.

In this latest study of children in the 90s, scientists focus specifically on formative abilities and brain development. They follow their respective children until they start school.

Emily, studied as a child in the 90s, is Henry’s mother. Today, her young son is sitting on his lap as he works on one of the research team’s carefully designed puzzles.

“We’ve both been part of this since birth,” Emily says. “It wasn’t an option for me at first – my mom signed up for me. But it’s now, and I think it’s appealing.”

The goal is to help children thrive in the future, says Dr. Holmbo. Because when the kids start school, she explains that “a lot is already set up.”

“This is a foundation that helps to support children at the right time.”

Henry and Jackson finish the puzzle and game and take off their brains fierce hats.

“My boys love coming here,” Emily says. “They love all the toys – they get free snacks, so I will continue as long as they want.

“Why don’t you want to participate in this and maybe help future generations?”