During the first months of life, we’re governed by primitive reflexes that are directed from the brainstem. Initially, we need these primitive reflexes to survive. They also provide basic training for voluntary skills that will develop at a later time.
As the brain begins to develop, primitive reflexes soon become inhibited so that they’re no longer the “boss.” During this time, the lower centers of the brain also develop so that we acquire important, automatic brain functions.
Eventually, there is a shift in the brain, where our higher centers (the cortex) take command. Once the cortex is in charge, the brain is organized to function as intended, and now it becomes easy to learn, reflect, focus, and interact with others.
How we end up with a disorganized brain.
Sometimes, our primitive reflexes do not become inhibited, and our lower centers of the brain do not finish developing. Then we have what could be called a disorganized brain.
In this jumbled state, our primitive reflexes won’t retire—even though their time in the spotlight has long passed—and our lower centers of the brain have not completed their development. As a result, we still spend much of our time in survival mode, which can be very disruptive. We also have to do daily tasks without the benefit of some very basic, automatic brain functions that would have been acquired if such development had been completed.
This disarray causes our cortex to be distracted. Now, instead of focusing on its own job, the cortex is preoccupied with seeking ways to compensate for those missing functions. Of course, this undertaking is in addition to trying to override those retained primitive reflex reactions that keep popping up.
At times, the cortex is successful in its effort to help those parts of the brain that aren’t functioning as intended. At other times, it’s not. In all cases, a disorganized brain never allows a person to show his true potential.
What can be done about this?
Our modern, lifestyle changes may have inadvertently interfered with natural brain development. However, none of our “old” lifestyle has disappeared from the planet. So, that means we can apply knowledge of natural brain development to ensure that babies get what they need their first year of life.
Likewise, if we missed out on some of that natural development the first time around, we can always go back and re-create developmental opportunities that were missed as a baby. Then, when primitive reflexes are inhibited and the lower brain development is complete, the brain becomes organized in the way it’s intended to function.
Back to basics.
We don’t often think of babies as doing hard work their first year of life, yet some of the most key neurological connections are made during this time. From a brain development perspective, there is nothing “random” about that first year. If given the opportunity, babies all over the world go through the same natural process of brain organization.
For example, if babies are placed on their belly, they innately learn how to creep (which looks similar to an army crawl). Such movement is directly linked to developing part of the brainstem called the pons. From there, babies get up on their hands and knees and begin to crawl. This movement is directly linked to development of the midbrain.
If a child creeps and crawls enough, then the pons and midbrain become fully developed. With such development, the child acquires, naturally, key brain functions that become the foundation for everything else that the child does later in life.
Factors that inturrupt natural brain organization.
While prenatal stress, birth trauma, neurotoxins, and genetics can all interfere with lower brain development, baby apparatus have also caused problems.
Once upon a time, babies did not have the option of spending their days on their back in infant carriers, positioned upright in a swing, or moving around in a walker. Instead, babies just spent their time on their bellies, in the crib or on the floor, and nestled against their mother’s body. When such apparatus wasn’t an option, we didn’t have to understand that the default position for babies’ lower brain development is on their bellies.
Perhaps you’re thinking: But aren’t babies happy when they’re hanging out in that convenient apparatus? Of course they are—and, admittedly, parents are free to attend to other tasks when they’re assured that their babies are safely confined. Yet that short-term happiness quickly fades as the child ages and is asked to do tasks that require automatic brain functions.
Also, young children of previous generations didn’t spend endless hours in front of television, video, and computer screens. Rather, they were outside—building forts, creating mud pies, rolling down hills, climbing trees, and more. Such experiences were key to developing the vestibular and proprioceptive system. Although most of us have been (incorrectly) taught that we have just five basic senses, these other important sensory systems play pivotal roles in our ability to balance, focus, and move through space.
Babies that skip over this development, do not function in the same way that babies who complete this development will.
The brain changes with experiences. If some children only crept or crawled minimally—or skipped those stages altogether—we would not expect them to acquire the same neurological networks as children who spent the first year of life doing enough of these movements.
Yet sometimes we have difficulty believing that first year experiences could really be that important—that is, until we consider how neglect and abuse adversely affects a child’s brain development. Then it’s not difficult to accept that we’d expect to see differences between the brains of abused and nurtured children.
But all experiences, not just select ones, influence how the brain is organized. That’s why we conclude that creeping and crawling—the main way babies move throughout their first year of life—must be important to overall brain organization.
If the lower centers of the brain do not develop correctly, the higher centers take on what should be automatic for the lower brain centers.
When the brain has to rely on compensations to function, we often run into problems. First, children with retained primitive reflexes are wired to react, rather than reflect. To override such involuntary reactions, it takes a lot of cortical effort—and in reality, that’s not always possible to do. For example, kids who perform well in school may melt down the minute they walk into their home if they’re now “out of gas.”
Retained primitive reflexes also interfere with the development of motor skills. These kids may initially try many ways to compensate to do such challenges. But they’re usually no more successful than if we asked infants or young toddlers to do the same task. In other words, certain neural networks need to be in place—regardless of age—in order to develop specific motor skills.
When parents and teachers don't make this connection, we assume the child is lazy or careless.
Children who are scolded the most for not “trying hard enough” have likely expended way more effort to do tasks than those who merely sail through them. While we have been conditioned to think that trying, again and again, ultimately yields results—this simply is not true if a child is asked to perform with retained primitive reflexes, underdeveloped lower centers of the brain, and poor sensory processing.
Without the lower centers of the brain fully developed, it is impossible for a child to perform well.
Sometimes kids discover ways to compensate. Yet such kids are always vulnerable since helpful compensations may only be short-term.
As children age, more demands are made on the cortex with each new school year’s curriculum. As a result, prior compensations are often no longer effective. At other times, kids’ compensations only work during scattered times throughout the day. They may start out doing a task well, only to lose focus at midpoint. Or they may perform well for the entire first task, only to fall apart for the one that follows.
In short, inconsistency is a hallmark of a brain that is continually trying to compensate. In such cases, one constant dominates: Children with underdeveloped early centers of the brain can only behave and perform as well as their immediate compensations are working.
Neuroscientists are now claiming that this type of neuroplasticity and brain reorganization is the future of neuroscience.
Simply put, this says we can positively impact brain function at any time in our lives. For kids who participate in this program, this means that if they didn’t finish the lower brain development the first time around, then it’s still possible to re-create those missed opportunities and, in turn, acquire those automatic brain functions.
Our human potential can be defined as genetics+opportunity.
While we don’t have a say about the genetics we inherit, we can address the opportunity part of that equation. In short, if primitive reflexes are not inhibited and we have not completed the development of our lower centers of the brain, then we have not yet reached our potential.
Missing a stage of development doesn't mean a child cannot reach their potential.
There are variables in a child’s life that can influence whether the underdevelopment ultimately becomes a significant problem or not. Yet if we have the opportunity to complete lower brain development—whether it is during the first year or later in life—why wouldn’t we? After all, a well-organized brain is only going to make for an easier and more productive life.
Not every poor behavior in a child is related to an underdeveloped lower venteres of the brain.
While the underdevelopment may be contributing to a problem, it’s not always the only explanation for a child’s behavior or performance. Socioeconomic-related issues (e.g. a child is hungry) or emotional issues (e.g. a child has been abused) may be contributing factors, or they may even be the sole reason for whatever is going on. That’s why this program always encourages families to seek or continue other interventions that are appropriate to specific situations.
This program is an educational, not medical program.
This program was created to provide information, movements, and activities related to brain development. Since it’s truly just an educational curriculum, it would be inaccurate to think of the program as any kind of therapy. Likewise, this assessment and curriculum should never be used as the basis for challenging a medical diagnosis or treatment, identifying a child with a learning disability, or placing a child in Special Education classes.
Is this program right for you?
Many of today’s parents spend large sums of money on various programs, only to be disappointed by the results. Consequently (and understandably), they become skeptical of the next “new thing” that promises hope and change.
That’s why we advocate parents first learn how and why a program works, what specific changes participants experience, when such changes happen, what kind of evidence supports that such changes happen, who might benefit from participating in the program (and why), and what literature and research support the premise of the program. We have provided that information throughout our site.
To note, while a program may be effective, it may also not be a match for everyone. Variables that influence whether Brain Highways is a good fit for your family include:
1) Time to do the program’s daily commitment
2) Parents’ readiness to assume an active role in facilitating their child’s whole brain organization
3) Conviction that the brain has potential to change
4) Parents' willingness to re-wire their own brain maps by changing how they view their child and trying new ways to respond
4) Parents' willingness to re-wire their own brain maps by changing how they view their child and trying new ways to respond
Please email tmcsaltlake@gmail.com for an assessment for your child.
--Information courtsey of BHI.
