The development of the brain is influenced by many factors, such as heredity, environment, education, nutrition and disease. Parents should avoid the influence of some unfavorable factors on their children's brain development. On the basis of priority, create a good living environment for children, give rich environmental stimulation, good education and adequate nutrition, and the brain will develop healthily.
First, the critical period of children's brain development
The third trimester and infancy, that is to say, from the fetus of about 30 weeks to the infancy of 1 year, are the fastest stages of baby's brain development. 70% of the weight and structural development of the brain is completed in the fetus and infancy. Since the third trimester of pregnancy, brain development has entered a period of rapid growth. After 12 months, the brain development increased by 175% compared with that at birth, while after 18 months, the growth was only 18%, which greatly slowed down.
Brain development is divided into two stages.
The first stage, from pregnancy to delivery. This stage is called the long brain number stage. When a baby is born, there are about100 ~1800 million brain cells in the brain, which is close to that of adults. In other words, from pregnancy to birth, the number of brain cells is increasing.
In the second stage, after the baby is born, the brain enters a long-term phase, and the volume of brain cells and many other things will increase. After birth, "synapses" connected by nerve cells began to form, and the number of synapses reached its peak in three months. By three months, the deposition of gray matter fat was completed, and the DNA content stopped increasing at six months. By 12 months, oligodendrocytes reached 70% of adults. At the age of three, the cerebellum is basically mature, and the myelination of nerves is basically completed at the age of three to four.
Second, factors that may lead to abnormal brain development in children.
1, brain hypoxia and ischemia. Therefore, anyone who can cause maternal and fetal blood circulation and gas exchange disorders, or lead to neonatal arterial hypotension and venous congestion may cause cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, leading to brain injury and cerebral palsy. The reasons include:
(1) Maternal factors: such as pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome, heart failure, massive hemorrhage, anemia, shock or drug abuse, drug overdose, etc. ;
(2) Placental abnormalities: such as placental abruption, placenta previa, placental infarction or placental dysfunction;
(3) Blocking blood flow with adhesive tape;
(4) If the belt is drooping, pressed, knotted or wound around the neck;
(5) circulatory failure;
(6) polycythemia, etc.
2. Low birth weight infants, including premature and full-term infants. These babies all have different degrees of intrauterine growth retardation. At the same time, it also affects the development of the central nervous system, often complicated with subependymal hemorrhage and intraventricular hemorrhage, which is easy to cause spastic bilateral paralysis. It is easy to cause brain dysplasia.
3. Nuclear jaundice is also an important cause of brain dysplasia. However, due to the progress of perinatal medicine, the proportion of cerebral palsy caused by nuclear jaundice has declined.
4. Congenital abnormalities, including abnormal brain development caused by various reasons, can easily lead to brain dysplasia. For example, congenital hydrocephalus caused by neural tube dysfunction, global forebrain caused by vesicle evolution and development disorder, flat gyrus caused by nerve cell migration disorder, giant gyrus malformation and cerebellopontine gyrus, etc. , including the absence or hypoplasia of septum pellucidum caused by complications. Suggestion: In a word, the common causes of brain dysplasia mainly include abnormal brain development in embryonic stage or maternal diseases during pregnancy, dystocia, birth injury, neonatal intracranial hemorrhage, febrile convulsion, carbon monoxide poisoning, encephalitis, meningitis, head trauma and genetic factors. Experts suggest that you must go to a regular hospital to avoid delaying the patient's condition.
Third, how to promote the development of children's brains.
In fact, the development of the brain is influenced by many factors, and heredity is only one aspect. We should treat children's intellectual development with a scientific attitude.
1. Children's colorful life experiences as children are conducive to the complex connections between brain nerve cells.
Children who grow up in a family full of anxiety and tension are less likely to be overwhelmed by their feelings than those who grow up in a family full of love and joy. Scientists are convinced that children's early experiences play an important role in their long-term growth. Experts have found that some natural and simple actions, such as cuddling, patting, looking at each other, talking and smiling, can stimulate the development of baby brain cells. The essence of early education is not to instill all kinds of knowledge, but to listen and guide children to know the real world.
2. Exercise helps children's brain development.
Children's exercise should be moderate, in line with children's physical and psychological development characteristics, activities should be arranged in a certain period of time, step by step. It is best to take children outdoors to bask in the sun every day, breathe fresh air and increase the absorption of nutrition and oxygen. At the same time, help children do chest expansion and arm extension. When children grow up, they can be taught to take deep breaths and jog. When children learn to crawl, their forearms are not as strong as their legs. Now they can roll colored balls around and guide them to grab forward. When children can walk, they can start to do activities such as pushing stools, playing football, and sitting in a stroller.
3, enough vitamins to help the brain develop.
Vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E have great influence on the baby's brain development. Modern scientific research shows that if the baby lacks these vitamins, it will directly hinder the development of the brain and even cause brain malformation.
4. Which nutrients are beneficial to the development of intelligence?
Fetus and infancy, that is, early life, is the key period for the development of human nervous system. Reasonable and healthy dietary nutrition supplement at this stage can promote the baby's intellectual development. According to the latest research, ensuring the adequate supply of the following nutrients is of great benefit to the baby's intellectual development.
1, protein. Protein is the foundation of life activities, which has an extraordinary influence on the baby's physical development and intelligence improvement. Bean products, dairy products, fish and eggs are good sources to supplement protein, accounting for half of the 80g recommended by protein for pregnant women. Infants should ensure the amount of milk. If the best source of breast milk in protein is not enough, they need to add some formula. When the baby is older, it is necessary to supplement calcium protein supplements such as lean meat and egg yolk in time.
2, folic acid. The time to play a role is mainly concentrated in the second week to the ninth week of embryonic development. At this stage, pregnant women must pay attention to folic acid supplementation. Generally, it was not found in time when I was just pregnant (the second week). In order to ensure adequate folic acid intake, it is best to supplement folic acid from the time of pregnancy. Animal liver and green vegetables are good sources of folic acid supplement. However, the absorption rate of folic acid in natural food is much lower than that of synthetic folic acid, so it is recommended to take folic acid supplement (400-600 micrograms per day).
3. iron. One of the most important functions of iron is to synthesize hemoglobin that transports oxygen. Iron deficiency anemia caused by insufficient iron intake in the diet can not provide oxygen in time, which will make the baby's brain in an anoxic environment, and then damage the nervous system, and this damage is irreversible. Therefore, pregnant women and infants should pay attention to iron supplementation and eat more iron-rich foods, such as lean meat, egg yolk, iron-fortified essential oil and iron-fortified milk powder. In addition, expectant mothers should also supplement VC appropriately to promote the absorption rate of iron.
4. Iodine. A major function of iodine is to synthesize thyroid hormone, which in turn dominates thyroid metabolism. Iodine has an important influence on the physical development and intellectual development of infants. Dietary iodine deficiency is very harmful to children's intelligence. Eating iodized salt is the best way to supplement iodine. Pregnant women do not need supplements, and infants also need to take a small amount.
5. DHA .DHA is an important and special unsaturated fatty acid, which is the main element to maintain brain cells and is very important for the development of cranial nerve system. Although there is no obvious physical manifestation of insufficient DHA intake, adequate DHA can help improve your baby's IQ. Foods rich in DHA are mainly fish, seafood and egg yolk. In addition, there are many pregnant women's milk powder and formula milk powder, as well as health products such as cod liver oil. However, it is generally difficult to determine the minimum requirement of DHA. It is generally believed that 500- 1500 mg is appropriate for pregnant women and 200-500 mg for infants.
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The peak of children's brain development is four or five years old.
Experienced parents know that the most important thing in teaching children to learn is repetition. However, Yang Yang, four and a half years old, recently did something that surprised his mother: he sang a new song that he had only taught once the night before.
In this regard, Lu Jie, a senior child psychological counselor at the School of Humanities, Beijing University of Technology, explained that four or five-year-old children are at the first peak of brain development, so Yang Yang can sing once after listening to a song, which shows that his rapidly developing brain has special sensitivity to music, so it can be remembered in a short time and reproduced and repeated.
Lu Jie believes that from the perspective of developing children's intelligence, parents should pay special attention to children aged four or five. Using the right method and mastering the degree of early education will benefit children endlessly.
Explain patiently "why". With the change of brain, children urgently need to expand their knowledge and often ask their parents, "Why is this?" In this case, parents should try to explain patiently with their children's language and way of thinking, not too complicated. Children's memory will be further improved while learning knowledge.
Cultivate the ability of simple reasoning. You can take children to nature and let them observe animals and plants in detail and ask questions. For example, "Why do birds fly in the sky?" "Why do young trees only grow on the ground?" After returning home, compare the pictures in the book, tell them stories and stimulate their imagination.
Practice fine finger movements. Ten fingers are connected to the brain, so the development of the brain can not be separated from the promotion of finger activity. During this time, parents can try to let their children do some simple manual work, such as folding paper planes and clothes, or even just encouraging their children to rub their hands, which is good for brain development.
Enrich the game content. Children aged four or five are curious about all kinds of movements and postures. Parents should play games with their children more often, and let them learn to climb, climb and throw through games. In this process, they will feel excited, and this reaction can directly stimulate the brain nerves, which is of great help to children's observation, reaction and judgment.
However, Lu Jie reminded parents not to let their children learn some complicated knowledge and actions too early, such as writing and memorizing uncommon words, otherwise it will not be conducive to their healthy growth.