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New brain imaging technology is letting doctors see inside the mind of a child. They’ve discovered that massive brain growth occurs between birth and age four. That means babies can often learn much more than their parents imagine.

Yujung Park, for example, started playing piano before age one.

“Yujung, when she was born, of course, the house was every day full of music,” says her mom, Sun-Ah Jun.

“Sometimes my dad teach me, and sometimes my mom teach me, and sometimes my sister teaches me,” says Yujung.

Now, at age five, she is a gifted student.

“When I show her something, she copies [it] almost immediately,” says Yujung’s piano teacher, Deborah How.

Experts say there is a reason why Yujung learned to play Bach even before she went to kindergarten.

“We know that there are very dramatic changes occurring during the first few years of life,” says neuroscientist Dr. Elizabeth Sowell, “where the brain is growing dramatically.”

She says that reading, writing, playing the piano – learning every life skill depends on connections between the billions of neurons in the brain.

And these connections form rapidly before age four.

“So that’s why [when] you see people who are winners in the Olympics,” says child psychiatrist Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, “they’re usually people who have started athletics before their adolescent period began.”

Tiger Woods, for example, started playing golf at age one.

Experts believe parents can help shape the structure of their child’s brain, if they start early.

“So if I’m exposed to music, for example, early in life,” says Dr. Siegel, “I will have a brain that is ready to receive more from that sensory dimension.”

But, experts say, the concept is “use it or lose it.”

“Certain systems of the brain must get turned on, if they’re ever going to get turned on at all,” says education consultant Kenneth Wesson.

“If we can expose children to music, athletics and foreign language use before [the] adolescent period hits,” says Dr. Siegel, “we can use this principle of ‘use it or lose it.’”

As for Yujung, her family believes she’ll be a musician for life.

What We Need To Know

• The brain is incredibly responsive to experiences. If you expose your children to things like music, art, athletics and foreign language in the first few years of life, it will be easier for kids to improve and build on these skills, as they get older. (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., child psychiatrist)




• Do not get overwhelmed: you do not have to over-stimulate your children in order for them to have a bright future. Nature made the brain able to develop on its own. All it takes is a general environment of love – and some age-appropriate stimulation.
  (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., child psychiatrist)




• Engaging children in conversation is very important for brain development. (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., child psychiatrist)




• Parents should spend as much time with their babies as possible. Face-to-face contact is very important, to develop the parts of the brain that regulate emotion. (Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., child psychiatrist)

Resources

• Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Child Psychiatrist, Author, The Developing Mind
• Elizabeth Sowell, Ph.D., Neuroscientist, UCLA, Department of Neurology
• Kenneth Wesson, Education Consultant

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