Get to know your child’s brains so you can educate them better

Knowing a child’s brain is imperative for parents to educate them properly. The brain is the control tower of our body. It is responsible for receiving information through the five senses -sometimes six-, carrying out processes consciously or unconsciously, performing according to the results of those processes and, subsequently, issuing a behavior, which may be conscious or more unconscious. Everything that happens in the body goes through the brain, whether we are aware of it or not. Some notions, at least basic, about what the brain is and how it evolves, are essential for the educational task both from the point of view of parents, teachers, and professionals. Knowing a child’s brain is key for parents to be able to educate. Parents must understand that brain activity can develop in three different directions. In the first place, the brain develops from back to front, in other words, first, the sensory zones located in the posterior brain, which are activated and then the motor zones or anterior brain. Secondly, the brain develops from the bottom up, that is, it evolves from subcortical areas also known as the lower brain, to cortical areas or upper brain. Third and last, the brain develops from the right side to the left side, which is why we are first emotional beings to later develop language, thought and reason. The communication between a baby and its attachment figure is essentially emotional, the language developing a few months after the emotional connection. Now, although the child’s brain develops in the three directions cited before, it is the parts that develop in the last place that will tend to dominate or exert control over those that evolved at first. That is, reason, language, and thought will take over emotion. Thus, we conclude that the anterior brain will dominate the posterior, the neocortex will dominate the subcortex and the left hemisphere or linguistic hemisphere tends to be more developed than the emotional hemisphere due to the great importance that is given both in the educational system and in the family. Once we have seen the three directions in which the brain develops we will rely on a metaphor to understand the most relevant parts of the brain and their connection between them. These are your children’s brains The first brain that sits on the base of our brain is the reptilian brain, which anatomically corresponds to the brainstem and cerebellum. The basic function of this archaic and primitive structure of the brain is survival. Every time we are hungry, sleepy or thirsty our reptilian brain is activated to carry out a behavior that meets that need. In the case of neonates or very young children who cannot satisfy this need by themselves, they will initiate a behavior, which is usually crying, so that their reference figures cover the need in question. This brain is automatic, involuntary, unconscious and reactive. Reflexes and survival needs are coded here, such as heartbeat or body temperature regulation. An injury or a tumor in this reptilian brain can cause death. The functions of the reptilian brain are attack, flight, and paralysis. Those same functions are those that may arise in our children when they are punished, which is why we must reflect on the appropriateness of punishments. Second, we talk about the emotional brain that is located in the limbic system. Like the reptilian, the emotional brain is an automatic, involuntary, unconscious and reactive brain. It shows emotions. Every time our children feel unfairly treated, the emotion of rage appears in the limbic system. As it is an involuntary and reactive brain, we cannot do anything to prevent the emotion from appearing, therefore, all the emotions experienced by our children must be accepted and legitimized. Emotion appears in the limbic system but it is not here that you learn to regulate it. Specifically, every time we feel fear, anger or sadness, some limbic system structures that are called cerebral tonsils are activated and adrenaline and cortisol begin to be released, which causes us to hyperactive and not think or reason. Thirdly, on the two subcortical brains that we have just seen, the rational brain that is the seat of unconscious thoughts is based. We are constantly thinking even if we are not aware of it. The rational brain corresponds to what the philosopher José Antonio Marina calls the generating intelligence. And lastly, we would have the executive brain that is located in the prefrontal cortex and is the one that differentiates us from other animals. In this executive brain, the executive functions are based, hence its name. Executive functions are the psychological functions that are future-oriented and those that allow us to concentrate, inhibit or control impulses, plan ourselves, mathematical calculation, ethical awareness, emotional self-regulation, etc. The executive brain, unlike the previous three, is conscious, voluntary and persevering. Since the emotional brain is unconscious, we can meet people who are experts in managing emotions without being aware of how well they do it, but in the case of more rational skills such as learning a language, you cannot master a language without being aware. In order for our children to be able to self-regulate their emotions, it is necessary that there has been a correct vertical and horizontal integration of the brain. Vertical integration (development of the brain from the bottom up) and horizontal integration (development of the brain from back to front and […] More news from The Real Agenda: http://www.real-agenda.com