Pretoria - Behavioural patterns, including whether or not a child will grow up with criminal tendencies, depend on the level of care given to them as infants.
Neuroscientist Dr Barak Morgan said early childhood development was a critical period for the brain.
This was a point when a child’s destiny into their behavioural pattern was formed, he said.
Morgan was giving a neuroscience perspective to the behaviour of people and their contribution to violence against women and children.
He spoke at a summit hosted by the Human Sciences Research Council on cognitive behavioural development and the prevention of violence against women and children.
The summit formed part of the beginning of the #16DaysofActivism for No Violence Against Women and Children, which starts on Wednesday.
“The level of care given to an infant during the first few months of life forms the major contributor to making a difference between responsible and irresponsible adults.
“They either become delinquents or clear-thinking adults with the ability to control stress,” Dr Morgan said.
The care-giving during those first few months taught babies to cope as they grew older. “The structure or function of a brain matters very much; it makes you who you are,” the Cape Town neuroscientist explained.
The brain had power in the developmental potential of human beings. Morgan said: “Nothing; no thoughts, feelings or actions, enter or leave your mind without first going through your brain.”
Morgan said a bottom-up approach was borne of a parent or caregiver failing to act appropriately in times of infant distress.
He said the caregiver would not, for instance, attend to the child when a nappy was wet, did not pick them up or comfort them when they cried, or immediately attended to their pain.
“The baby adopts a ‘lose your head to survive’ or ‘act first, think later’ strategy, which has a negative impact on how they later handle life.”
Children with criminal minds came from this group and were most likely to abuse women and children.
They were also prone to substance abuse and aggressive behaviour. Because their bodies were not allowed to switch off from stress response mode they developed toxic stress, he said.
The other group of babies developed what Morgan called the top-down approach to life, because they were cared for differently and had their needs attended to at the time of emotional distress.
“Caregivers and parents regulate or buffer infants’ stress response by providing warm, sensitive care, protection and reassurance.”
This allowed the baby’s brain to switch off the adrenalin rush when they were stressed, and they grew up equipped with the ability to control their stress.
These babies turned out to be responsible people, comfortable in the knowledge that they did not have to fight their way to success.
Morgan said the difference between the two groups of children was how one went through life seeing danger and always sticking to survival mode; while the more confident group of people saw the bigger picture and lived in “thrive mode”.
He said the bottom-up group members were in danger of having a short lifespan because of their behaviour, and they grew up faster, discounting the future and experiencing their sexual maturity earlier.
This led to earlier reproduction and teenage pregnancies, more children than the other group and less parenting effort.
The other group grew up slower and had a longer lifespan; they planned for their future and went through sexual maturity later. “They have fewer offspring and put less effort into mating,” said Morgan.
Social and economic conditions contributed negatively to the level of parental care, with poverty, insecurity of jobs and accommodation removing their ability to buffer their baby’s stress. Poverty was a major contributor to the bottom-up brain.
Pretoria News
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