The importance of taking care of neurocognitive development in childhood

Care in development is important from the prenatal stage; It is vital to lead a life with good habits in every way so that when the time of pregnancy arrives, the mother is in physical, emotional and psychological health.

In this sense, fetal well-being is a stage that begins to mark neurocognitive development, and the loss of fetal well-being could trigger different alterations, which we call disorders of fetal neurodevelopment.

The importance of prenatal care

baby's brain development the gestation is transcendental, since it is the stage in which anatomical and functional changes occur. Guaranteeing a healthy diet, carrying out prenatal medical control, and taking the necessary supplements will provide the necessary nutrients for neuronal and physical development. of the fetus is basic, since the brain begins its development during pregnancy, and its subsequent performance will depend largely on what the mother did during pregnancy.

Nutrition and pregnancy

In a study conducted in Australia that closely followed the eating habits of 23,000 women during pregnancy, it was observed which of these women ate more with diets high in sugars and carbohydrates and those who ate diets high in fiber, omegas and red fruits, with the In order to analyze what would be the consequences of this eating style on the cognitive and emotional development of their children between 18 months and the 5 years. The variables that were taken into account in the children were: their mental health, what kind of upbringing the parents did, and the economy.

The study showed that mothers who consumed more foods enriched in sugars and carbohydrates during pregnancy, had children more likely to be aggressive and angry; Similarly, children who consumed high levels of sugar and cognitively processed foods showed poor impulse control, poor inhibitory control, and low levels of concentration.

Therefore, it is important that the mother is nourished with a diet based on food that contains omegas 3, 6, and 9 (nuts, fish, avocado, oil of olive), red fruits (strawberries, blueberries, plums, blackberries, etc.), who have medical supervision during pregnancy, and who take vitamins such as folate and acid folic; these routines help prevent birth problems in the brain and spinal cord.

The result for mothers who ate balanced diets enriched with fatty acids essentials, fiber, protein, and who subsequently fed their children similar diets, was more favorable. As a result of these good habits the children showed better emotional regulation, optimal levels of concentration and attention, as well as better learning processes.

A poor diet in pregnancy could lead to deficiencies in the neurocognitive development of the baby, resulting in a possible neurodevelopmental disorder, category in which we find: chromosomal disorders (Down syndrome) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and more. It must be borne in mind that a poor diet is not the only cause of these disorders, but it is among the most important.

• Related article: "Psychology and Nutrition: the importance of emotional eating"

Cognitive development in the first years of life

In this stage the neonate begins to know the world through the senses and movement, she will have a tendency to constantly follow novel stimuli, such as sounds, colors, textures, flavors, etc. Egocentrism is in its greatest splendor, which is why it demands total attention towards him / her. He is attentive to discovering what is closest to her body, so her feet and hands will be what she takes to her mouth the most, or any object that feels close to her hand.

In these months, the baby's movement is not controlled, but is a reflex movement. At this moment there is no capacity to be able to maintain continuous attention towards an object; This ability is acquired with growth, development cognitive and training by their significant figures.

Cognitive stimulation at this stage will be based on tasks related to tasks that develop fine and gross motor skills: stimulate the senses with textures, smells, flavors. Pincer movement, jumping, running, learning to tie shoes, riding a bicycle... are activities that will strengthen learning and growth.

In the first months it is common for the baby to sleep for long periods of time; this is necessary for growth, the formation of new neural connections, and to consolidate memories of sensations and movements learned during the day. This consolidation allows the learning generated to be stored in the long-term memory store, thus forming the first traces of memory.

A diet based on green vegetables, red fruits, proteins, dairy products or others will help the alert system, provide energy, physical health and better emotional regulation, which are necessary to install skills such as attention, concentration, memory and executive functioning. This stage begins the symbolic game, which helps to understand and assimilate the environment that surrounds them, language develops, favors imagination and creativity.

Cognitive development in preschool age

Cognitive development is one of the processes that help the child learn to solve problems, reason and think consciously. In this sense, the researcher jean piaget he said that "children behave like little scientists trying to interpret the world." According to Piaget, cognitive development does not only consist of qualitative changes in facts and abilities, but is also learned from experience.

From 3 to 7 years of age, the speed of development and neurodevelopment slows down; in these childhood years language appears, which will help the child to understand the world around us. The anatomy of the brain is ready to receive the abilities that will be installed in these structures.

executive functions

This is an important stage for training skills such as focused attention, inhibitory control, working memory, emotion regulation, and social cognition, among others. This set of skills is known as executive functions (EF) that are linked to the activity of the prefrontal cortex (CPF) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) responsible for emotional regulation, inhibitory control and social behavior. At the cognitive level, these abilities are largely formed in a sociocultural way, especially the parents being the representation of the frontal lobes of the little ones.

A characteristic of children at this stage is that they act like sponges, absorbing all the behaviors modeled by their most significant figures, especially their parents, so if their parents bite their nails in the face of anxiety, the child will do the same when she feels anxiety, and if the parents use inappropriate language, the little ones will not only learn it, but also learn it. they will normalize It is important then to take into account that at this stage the children will adopt the coping guidelines for each situation depending on the model presented; the same will happen with attention, concentration, the way in which you will make decisions, plan and organize.

In the stage from 3 to 7 years of age, adequate stimulation of executive functions is essential., since these are the basis for adequate learning, academic achievement, for adaptability in different environments and social skills. It is a stage where the predominance of language is progressive, and there is an expansion of the vocabulary: 100 words in children of 3 years, and 2000 at 6 years.

Language disorders, if present, are already evident, and difficulties may appear in formal learning, which will most likely be associated with the lack of maturation and consolidation that make it possible to adhere to academic learning. If this happens, it is important to seek help from professionals such as a pediatric neurologist and a neuropsychologist to carry out an evaluation that allows for early care.

This is not a stage to learn to read and write

Increasingly, some educational establishments offer children reading and writing out of the preschool stage; In this way, if the boy or girl does not reach this ability at that stage, the parents worry that something bad is happening with their little ones.

It is highly unlikely that a child's nervous system is ready to learn literacy; the child's behavior strives to be consistent with her maturation level. This is the ideal stage for the child to continue perfecting the most advanced skills. typical of her age, such as autonomy, personal care, social skills, empathy, reasoning, understanding of value judgment etc

It is also important at this stage have a notion of letters, numbers, discriminate colors, shapes and sizes, have a basic knowledge of quantities, distinguish between the weight of objects, know how to behave according to place and context. These skills guarantee proper behavior when starting formal school life, since there the boy or girl has received training that will allow them to have an adapted behavior in each environment, attention will be focused on the required tasks and they will be able to complete them successfully, and they will be able to achieve academic achievement that helps them reach their maximum learning potential.

stress and development

For years it has been studied how chronic stress affects physiological processes, but little is known or discussed about the cognitive conditions caused by stress. We experience stress from the moment of birth; leave the comfort of the mother's womb to reach a world that is unknown, with new sounds, sensations of all kinds... are experiences that will cause stress, which will adjust in a short time with the adaptability of the neonate to the atmosphere.

Anxiety is necessary for survival, prepares us to flee or fight in a dangerous situation, and who is in charge of this process is the hormone of cortisol, which when produced activates physiological responses such as tachycardia, sweating, and increases blood pressure. These symptoms are what warn us of danger and prepare us to fight or flee. In theory, being out of danger, the cortisol hormone drops, allowing our system to return to homeostasis. However, this homeostasis or balance does not occur when stress levels are high and anxiety has become chronic.

When a child has been exposed to a hostile environment, where there is aggression and verbal or physical violence, this cortisol rises above 50% of what would be adequate, giving rise to an oxidative process that results in cognitive difficulties such as problems in concentration and attention; these two are a prerequisite for memory, so if attentional processes are affected due to stress and anxiety, you will have a reduced memory. This process is not only an obstacle in learning and social development, but also academic achievement and school performance could be affected.

Faced with these hostile situations in the environment, children will learn to resolve situations and manage emotions from the system limbic, which is based on emotional processes and will increasingly lose capacity for self-regulation and inhibitory control, which as we saw before are skills associated with the frontal lobes, which are trained through imitating their figures significant. Children subjected to these environments experience damaged self-esteem, are insecure of themselves, they will be more manipulable before inappropriate proposals and they will be more vulnerable to the consumption of substances.

Conclusion

It is necessary to be aware of these processes in order to provide children with emotionally healthy environments, free of violence, with the aim of accompanying them towards the effective achievement of their academic, social and emotional. The objective of a functional development has three important elements: that the child can know the world, interact with the world, adapt to the world.