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Prof. Charles A. Nelson receives the 2021 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for his groundbreaking research on the impacts of childhood adversities on brain development, behavioral disorders, and social stability.
Charles Nelson
2021 Research Prize
To do this, it is important to get a clearer picture of the different types of adversity that children commonly experience and find ways to examine the impact adversity has across multiple, interrelated elements of development—neural, biological, psychological.
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“We've made a number of discoveries that have fundamentally shaped our understanding of how early experience impacts development.”
“Because I can't be an expert in everything, it's led me to be highly collaborative.”
Dr. Nelson became interested in the effects of experience on brain-behavioral development as an undergraduate. He currently studies psychosocial hazards and their impact on development.
Serve and Return
The natural vocal and physical back and forth between a child and their caregiver is known as serve and return. Consistent repetition of this process impacts the child’s brain architecture by building and strengthening neural connections that lead to the development of essential communication and social skills.
Absent, inappropriate, or infrequent adult responses can disrupt brain development. The additional presence of toxic stress multiplies these negative effects, potentially leading to physical, mental, and emotional health problems over their lifetime.
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Adverse childhood experiences can undermine many aspects of development and these effects can last a lifetime. But his research shows that some of the negative impacts on the brain can be reversed by early interventions.
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Core Concepts in Child Development
Toward Effective Interventions
Building on his previous work, Dr. Nelson plans to expand our understanding of what happens in the brain during critical periods of development in human children. Intriguing early data suggests that these critical periods can be reopened. Understanding this process has implications for developing more effective treatment strategies for children who have been deprived of key experiences or have been exposed to early adverse experiences.
The Bangladesh Early Adversity Neuroimaging Project aims to address how a child’s exposure to early adversity affect their cognitive outcomes. Learn more.
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Brain Architecture
Early childhood experiences—both positive and negative—impact the architecture of the developing brain. This developmental process, which includes the strengthening of certain connections and the pruning of others, creates a foundation for all future learning, behavior, and physical and mental health. Adverse experiences like toxic stress can impair brain architecture, while positive influences like robust serve and return interactions can build a strong base.
All may not be lost for those children who experienced challenges in their early years. There is active research into potentially reopening critical developmental windows.
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Resilience
Why do some children thrive despite serious adversity, while others suffer significant negative impacts? Resilience is built over time through interactions between children and their environments and is a complex combination of factors that enable them to adapt positively to adversity and become healthy, productive members of society.
Understanding what determines a child’s response to adverse early experiences is crucial, because it can inform more effective policies and programs that help more children reach their full potential. It may also aid in developing future therapeutics pathways for building resilience later in life.
The Boston Healthy Baby Study is attempting to obtain a comprehensive picture of risk and resilience during the earliest stages of development. Learn more.
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As part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, orphaned children in Bucharest, Romania suffering severe neglect have been followed. Learn more.
What is Adversity?
Adversity might be best thought of as a violation of the expectable environment, including malnutrition, chronic illness, maltreatment, violence, physical or emotional abuse, neglect, or economic hardship.
Excessive or prolonged expose to these conditions—defined as toxic stress—can have damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health, leading to a greater risk of disease, psychiatric disorders, risk-taking behaviour, involvement in violence, and difficulty forming and maintaining relationships.
Understanding these impacts and their causes creates opportunities for developing intervention strategies.
Serve and Return
Brain Architecture
Resilience
Watch the video on toxic stress
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Website created by the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Video compliments of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
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