The creative brain

A magnetic resonant imaging (MRI) scan allows scientists to accurately monitor brain activity in a variety of situations.

It need not be that way, however. Contemporary brain research shows that intelligence has as much to do with nurture as it does with nature. And, as new technology allows us to study the brain with greater clarity, it appears that appropriate stimulation at a young age can benefit the growing child

Dr Sansnee Chatkupt MD, neurologist and founder of the Creative Brain Institute

Dr Sansnee Chatkupt MD is a professor of child neurology and runs the Creative Brain Institute in Bangkok. Her organisation provides training for teachers and parents on improving learning, based on techniques developed from the results of scientific research. Channel 5 viewers may recognise her from the popular television programme Yak Hai Luk Keng - ‘Want a Smart Child’.

Learning post recently met up with Dr Sansnee to find out more about how our children can become effective learners.

“The first three years of childhood are really the basic foundation for our learning future,” says Dr Sansnee. “So it’s very important that we emphasise proper parenting in early childhood. If a child has a very strong foundation, they will be able to learn more effectively later on.”

We are all born with about 100 billion brain cells. Each cell is made up of short fibres that transmit messages to other parts of the brain via connection points called synapses. At birth, our brain fibres are short but soon begin to grow as do the number of synapses.

In basic terms, the more synapses we have, the smarter we become. But how do we encourage the growth of these synapses? The answer to that question, according to Dr Sansnee, lies in how we interact with our children from birth.

To further investigate this theory, neurological researchers all over the world have been conducting experiments to see if environment can dictate the rate of synapse growth in the young.

One such experiment was performed by Dr Marion Diamond at the University of California, Berkeley. In it, a group of young mice was raised in an environment designed to stimulate them as much as possible. They were given wheels to play on and a variety of other objects with which to busy themselves, as well as a lot of care and attention from their human observers. Another group of mice was raised in a cage that contained nothing, save for the odd bit of nutrition to keep them alive.

After a prolonged period of time, each group of mice was given a kind of mousy intelligence test. Interestingly, it was noted that, along with greater “intelligence”, the stimulated mice had grown substantially more synapses than the unstimulated ones.

Similar observations have been made in humans, explains Dr Sansnee. Long-term studies in the US began by placing babies and their parents with equivalent socio-economic backgrounds into two groups. All babies were given the same kind of nutrition and parents had access to the usual facilities. One group of parents, however, was educated in special parenting techniques and also attended early childhood centres where teachers knew how to stimulate the babies by talking to them and making eye contact. The other group of parents had no such training and did not attend the childhood centres.

After three years, IQ tests showed that stimulated children were, on average, 17 points higher than toddlers in the other group. Further observations of such children show that those with enhanced stimulation also go on to perform better academically.

While these studies are fascinating in themselves, educators and parents are more interested in the practical application of the findings.

Dr Sansnee explains that talking to babies and maintaining eye contact with them are key to helping young children sprout those synapses. “It helps with emotional learning and emotional intelligence,” she observes. “When the baby looks into mummy’s or daddy’s eyes, they can tell they are very kind, happy or mad. It helps them learn about different types of expression and what they mean.”

That all may seem like common sense. However, in today’s complicated world where many people lead busy lives, Dr Sansnee believes that some parents are opting to take a passive approach towards rearing their offspring. “Some babies are being raised by television,” she laments. “The television has become a babysitter! This is not good because it means the baby is not being stimulated. The television means nothing to them.”

Also important for babies, says Dr Sansnee, is the sense of touch. The recommendation from experts is to touch the baby softly and allow them to play with things that are different in texture. When they can walk and run, parents should allow them to do this as much as possible as this helps the child to develop the receptors that govern balance and co-ordination.

By their third birthday, a child’s sense of understanding has increased significantly. Importantly, very young children are beginning to form a realistic perception of the world around them and this can be developed further if the child is placed in an appropriate environment.

As an example of the perspective shift, think about a one-year-old child who has lipstick painted onto its nose and is made to look into a mirror. The child will instinctively try to touch the mirror, attempting to touch the nose of what it believes is another child. By the time they are two years old, the child will touch its own nose.

Dr Sansnee suggests that exposing children to different ways of looking at the world at such a young age can help them develop complex understanding as they grow older.

“Activities like lying down on the ground, looking up at the sky and then looking back at the ground develops a sense of perspective,” she says. “It also helps them to gain a broad conceptual view of the world.”

Communication, of course, is also vital for language acquisition, which is developing rapidly at this age.

“By this stage, you talk to children in a more mature manner because they can understand sentences,” notes Dr Sansnee. “It is a good time to start asking them a lot of questions to make them think. For example, you can ask them ‘why is the moon only half tonight, when the other night it was a full moon?’ or ‘why do we have to stop at the red light?’ You can stimulate thinking by asking questions such a ‘why’ and ‘how’ which is much better than just telling them information.”

Indeed, it is a proven fact that we switch off very easily if information is simply relayed to us. Questioning ignites a whole lot more synapses and our brain functions in a totally different way, helping us to absorb information more effectively. This is why, according to Dr Sansnee, parents should never tell a child to stop asking questions. “That is inhibiting the taste for curiosity, which is the nature of children,” she says. “When they are curious, they want to know. And when they want to know, that means they are thinking.”

Learning through play is an especially effective approach during a child’s formative years, especially as they are learning to socialise.

“Imaginary play is very good,” says Dr Sansnee. “Children love to play student and teacher, doctor and patient, king and queen. It helps them with creativity, vocabulary, social skills and emotional skills. Parents should enjoy playing with children, but they shouldn’t tell them what to play. Give them a choice. Put them in the frame of thought that gets them thinking by themselves, making decisions, directing the play. Whilst this is going on, you can give them correct information or vocabulary. For example, you can say that ‘this is the building for the king – it’s a castle’, so they learn the word ‘castle’. Parents should not overpower or dominate the play.”

Again, the temptation for parents to use the television as a way of keeping the children quiet can be overwhelming. “I’m not saying that television is bad,” says Dr Sansnee. “It can be good but, like all technology, it is only good if you use it properly. Television can be educational too and that’s useful. But it’s important to remember that every single thing, every day has an impact on the child’s development. So if we are not there to explain what is right or wrong, children may be left with incomplete information.”

Television has also been blamed for creating physical apathy in children, which can lead to physical health problems as well as drain creativity.

“Parents should choose programmes and limit time to encourage discipline,” says Dr Sansnee. “If we just allow our children to sit and do what they want, they’ll become very indisciplined and not be able to cope with time management, which is no good these days when everything is so competitive.”

Instead of feeding them a relentless diet of television, Dr Sansnee suggests that parents take the time to tell their children stories in order to develop imagination. They can also encourage more participation in sport, art and music.

When a child reaches school age, their brains are ripe for development. Although the rate of synapse growth will have reduced a little, their brain is already programmed for the capacity to learn. By now, a child will either be inquisitive or passive, energetic or indolent or somewhere in between. Of course, children can change these traits as time goes on.

Research shows that children learn best when they are happy. Today, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can show us how the brain functions whilst we are doing various activities by highlighting positive charges in the brain and showing them as a ‘live’ x-ray picture on a monitor. Scientists have observed that when a person is in a good mood, engaged and stimulated, the brain lights up. Conversely, when a person is anxious, afraid, insecure or worried about something, brain activity is very low. This is because when we are stressed, the brain produces a stress hormone called cortisone and studies show that cortisone suppresses the function of brain cells.

So if a child feels happy and secure, then naturally they will be able to learn better and function in a more productive way.

Schools already do much to facilitate a safe environment for their pupils and most teachers take great care in ensuring that they are approachable and warm. But the style in which they teach can clearly make a big difference.

“Memory is only contained in the basic layer of the brain,” explains Dr Sansnee. “By simply memorising facts, the children don’t develop any higher critical thinking.

“So you can question them on a number of levels. For example, you can ask ‘what is the capital of Thailand?’ That requires a factual answer. But you can also ask ‘what is a capital?’ Then they have to think. Learning facts alone doesn’t force you to think.”

Creative thinking should also be encouraged, she says, although parental attitudes can sometimes be detrimental, even if well meant.

“You should allow children to have a flight of ideas. When children think differently, parents might say ‘don’t think that, it’s so weird’ when actually it could be an interesting idea.”

When it comes to testing children, Dr Sansnee believes that both knowledge and analytical thinking should play equally important roles. Children should learn, she says, to come up with their own solutions and hypotheses when confronted with a problem or a question, as it is these skills that will become valuable in later life.

Dr Sansnee also thinks children should be given more credit for other factors in their education such as participation in activities, leadership or for creativity. “Some children are not very academic but they are great socialisers,” she muses. “They could be good PR people.”

Dr Sansnee also points out that parents should play an active role in their child’s education rather than see it as solely the duty of the school. “Once the child comes home, what the parents do is important. Children will do well if parents involve themselves in the learning. Today it’s very difficult to teach homework but you can review with them and help them where you can.”

Finally, Dr Sansnee leaves parents these words of advice: “Don’t have expectations that are too high. That creates too much pressure. You have to give hope to and inspire children. Even children with limited opportunities can still be successful. They should try to see the bright side, open their eyes and visualise themselves in the future. They may have to fight for it but they should not be afraid to fail.”