5 ms·

The Brain Is Particularly Vulnerable to Trauma at Two Distinct Ages

74 points by mdisc 11y ago

davedx 11y ago
Interesting. Our daughter is 2 months away from her 2nd birthday and just in the last month or so, her speech has started accelerating at quite a pace. Whereas from 8 months or so she was making noises and started to form her first words, these days it's almost one new word per day, and she's starting to make lots of 2 and even 3 word sentences. Another interesting point: we're bringing her up to be bi-lingual (Dutch and English), and because her environment is primarily Dutch, almost all of the words she speaks are in Dutch, though she understands a decent share of English too, now. I wonder if because language development is a bit more prolonged with bi-lingual children, if this vulnerable phase is also then prolonged, or if the brain starts to be more resilient as soon as a "first language" is settled in? I love this stuff!
- vanderZwan 11y ago
  I doubt there has been research specifically addressing your question. However, growing up bilingually has been shown to be beneficial to mental development in multiple studies, and before that there has also been considerable debate over whether or not is good or bad for the child (the idea being that it might overload their developing mind). So if growing up bilingually would prolong the vulnerable phase, I would expect the negative consequences of that to have been observed statistically.
  - th0waway 11y ago
    I'm interested in the trade-offs in growing up bilingual - what, if anything is being depressed to make up for the resources devoted to being bi-lingual?
    - rue 11y ago
      I haven’t heard of any observed adverse effects. Most likely, the vast majority of resources is devoted to learning Language rather than any specific syntax or vocabulary; multiple languages may even help in this process.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- edwhitesell 11y ago
  Somewhat related, I found my Son's bilingual exposure very interesting. From 3 months to 20 months he was in a bi-lingual montessori (english & spanish). Teachers and assistants always use both languages to work with children. We also reinforced at home wherever possible. Our limited spanish skills were mostly from the things he brought home and told us and a few books. Then we moved and he was in another school, english only, from 21 months to 38 months. The decline of spanish skills was slow at first, even while we worked with him at home, then became very rapid. English skills continually improved, as would be expected. At 39 months we moved back to the original bilingual montessori. He quickly learned/learns new spanish words and phrases, but the previous ones (colors, numbers, shapes, animals) are mostly gone. Even though I recall 90% of them, all learned as an adult, he doesn't.
  - vanderZwan 11y ago
    The first three and a half years of my life I lived in Ghana and, apparently, spoke Dutch, English, Spanish (with the local nuns) and Fante (a dialect of Akan, a Ghanaian language). I no longer speak the latter two, although I've been told that I can "bluff" Spanish pronunciation very convincingly off the page.
Kenji 11y ago
I knew that the onset of a variety of mental health problems is during the late teenage years, so I'm not surprised at all. What did surprise me was that the babies sustain lasting damage because they were never "cuddled and played with" in their early years. So much that it appeared in brain scans when they were adults. Interesting.
- vwcx 11y ago
  This is why I feel particularly sad when watching a parent screaming profanity at their child on the NYC subway. A poorly-regulated parent produces poorly-regulated children.
  - breakingcups 11y ago
    And so the cycle continues.
outworlder 11y ago
> Throughout the first two years of life, the brain develops at a rapid pace. However, around the second year, something important happens—babies begin to speak. I began to speak way before learning to walk, around my first birthday. I personally know of child that began to speak before his first birthday. As in, complete sentences. Is that rare and my sample set has been biased? I thought it was normal for babies to start speaking at age 1, not 2.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
pcl 11y ago
Spoiler alert: "the terrible twos" / "toddler" and "teenage years." So, a broader range than the clickbait title implied.
- sp332 11y ago
  Those are distinct ages.
meeper16 11y ago
The age ranges: - year 2 or "terrible two's" - years 13-18 or teenage years
Kayou 11y ago
> In short, your ability to maintain proper social skills and develop a sense of empathy is largely dependent on the physical affection, eye contact, and playtime of those early years. Even something as simple as observing facial expressions and understanding what those expressions mean is tied to your wellbeing as a toddler. Crap, is that true? Anyone knows other studies confirming this?

74 points by mdisc 11y ago

Interesting. Our daughter is 2 months away from her 2nd birthday and just in the last month or so, her speech has started accelerating at quite a pace. Whereas from 8 months or so she was making noises and started to form her first words, these days it's almost one new word per day, and she's starting to make lots of 2 and even 3 word sentences. Another interesting point: we're bringing her up to be bi-lingual (Dutch and English), and because her environment is primarily Dutch, almost all of the words she speaks are in Dutch, though she understands a decent share of English too, now. I wonder if because language development is a bit more prolonged with bi-lingual children, if this vulnerable phase is also then prolonged, or if the brain starts to be more resilient as soon as a "first language" is settled in? I love this stuff!

vanderZwan 11y ago
I doubt there has been research specifically addressing your question. However, growing up bilingually has been shown to be beneficial to mental development in multiple studies, and before that there has also been considerable debate over whether or not is good or bad for the child (the idea being that it might overload their developing mind). So if growing up bilingually would prolong the vulnerable phase, I would expect the negative consequences of that to have been observed statistically.
- th0waway 11y ago
  I'm interested in the trade-offs in growing up bilingual - what, if anything is being depressed to make up for the resources devoted to being bi-lingual?
  - rue 11y ago
    I haven’t heard of any observed adverse effects. Most likely, the vast majority of resources is devoted to learning Language rather than any specific syntax or vocabulary; multiple languages may even help in this process.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
edwhitesell 11y ago
Somewhat related, I found my Son's bilingual exposure very interesting. From 3 months to 20 months he was in a bi-lingual montessori (english & spanish). Teachers and assistants always use both languages to work with children. We also reinforced at home wherever possible. Our limited spanish skills were mostly from the things he brought home and told us and a few books. Then we moved and he was in another school, english only, from 21 months to 38 months. The decline of spanish skills was slow at first, even while we worked with him at home, then became very rapid. English skills continually improved, as would be expected. At 39 months we moved back to the original bilingual montessori. He quickly learned/learns new spanish words and phrases, but the previous ones (colors, numbers, shapes, animals) are mostly gone. Even though I recall 90% of them, all learned as an adult, he doesn't.
- vanderZwan 11y ago
  The first three and a half years of my life I lived in Ghana and, apparently, spoke Dutch, English, Spanish (with the local nuns) and Fante (a dialect of Akan, a Ghanaian language). I no longer speak the latter two, although I've been told that I can "bluff" Spanish pronunciation very convincingly off the page.

Kenji 11y ago

I knew that the onset of a variety of mental health problems is during the late teenage years, so I'm not surprised at all. What did surprise me was that the babies sustain lasting damage because they were never "cuddled and played with" in their early years. So much that it appeared in brain scans when they were adults. Interesting.

vwcx 11y ago
This is why I feel particularly sad when watching a parent screaming profanity at their child on the NYC subway. A poorly-regulated parent produces poorly-regulated children.
- breakingcups 11y ago
  And so the cycle continues.

outworlder 11y ago

> Throughout the first two years of life, the brain develops at a rapid pace. However, around the second year, something important happens—babies begin to speak. I began to speak way before learning to walk, around my first birthday. I personally know of child that began to speak before his first birthday. As in, complete sentences. Is that rare and my sample set has been biased? I thought it was normal for babies to start speaking at age 1, not 2.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

pcl 11y ago

Spoiler alert: "the terrible twos" / "toddler" and "teenage years." So, a broader range than the clickbait title implied.

sp332 11y ago
Those are distinct ages.

meeper16 11y ago

The age ranges: - year 2 or "terrible two's" - years 13-18 or teenage years

Kayou 11y ago

> In short, your ability to maintain proper social skills and develop a sense of empathy is largely dependent on the physical affection, eye contact, and playtime of those early years. Even something as simple as observing facial expressions and understanding what those expressions mean is tied to your wellbeing as a toddler. Crap, is that true? Anyone knows other studies confirming this?