Critical Period and Neuroplasticity

 

 

Neuroplasticity and Critical Period Development

 

Critical Period

       The brain has a certain time window when it is remarkably good at learning new things, especially languages. This window of time is referred to as the "critical period." The significance of critical period are mentioned below -

-          Compared to the other periods of life, the first six years of children’s life are very important

-          It symbolises fixed and crucial period of early development

-          It is a period of rapid growth and development in all domains.

-          Brain plasticity is maximal at specific time windows.

-          During this early development which is known as critical periods (CPs).

-          During critical period, sensory experience is important to establish optimal cortical representations of the surrounding environment.

-          During these years, children acquire various physical-motor, cognitive, socio-emotional and language competencies.

Difference between ‘Critical Period’ and a ‘Sensitive Period’

      Critical periods are specific windows of time during development when the brain is exceptionally receptive to certain types of learning and experiences. Once this period is over, acquiring those skills or attributes becomes significantly more challenging. A Critical Period is a special class of sensitive period. It is viewed as a time-limited, where sensory experience is necessary to shape the neural circuits involved in basic sensory processing (Hubel and Wiesel, 1970; Hensch, 2005).

      Sensitive periods are phases in which the brain is more responsive to certain experiences. It's easier to learn or be influenced by specific experiences during sensitive periods, but unlike critical periods, missing this timeframe doesn't make it impossible to acquire those skills or traits later.

       For example, while there is a critical period for acquiring native-like pronunciation and grammar, there is also a sensitive period for language learning. Children are more adept at learning new languages when they are young, but even if someone misses this window, they can still learn languages later in life. Critical periods are a tightly defined window of time with a clear beginning and end, during which certain development must occur. (ages and stages of development)

        In contrast, sensitive periods are more like a gradual slope, where learning at the beginning is optimal, but the ability doesn't disappear entirely over time. (Learning new skills)

Neuroplasticity

 

                                                

 

 

-          Young children are very active 

-          They have good observation power

-          Neurons are like small LED bulbs

-          Each stores new information

-          It helps in concept development

-          acquire language naturally

Neurons Form Connections

 

 In the early stages, neurons in the brain start to form connections. These connections are called synapses. Synapses are like bridges. It helps different parts of the brain communicate with each other. In the critical period, the brain is building these bridges at an incredible pace.

           It is a period where a child is exposed to a rich and stimulating environment. Through various exposures where they can play, explore, and learn, it tremendously impacts the brain. Engaging a child in interactive learning by supportive relationships with caregivers can significantly contribute to a well-developed brain. During the critical period, the brain experiences explosive growth.

The skills such as:

-          physical (reaching, rolling, crawling, and walking);

-          cognitive (thinking, learning, solving problems);

-          communication (talking, listening, understanding);

-          social/emotional (playing, feeling secure and happy); and

-          Self-help (eating, dressing).

          Shortly after birth, infants can readily perceive and discriminate speech sounds from any language, even those to which they have not been exposed (Eimas et al., 1971; Jusezyk and Luce, 2002). Beginning around the age of 6 months, exposure to the primary language in the infant's environment guides the formation of language-specific phonetic representations (Kuhl et al., 2003), which strengthens the neural representations for speech sounds of the native language, while weakening those of unused sounds (McClelland et al., 1999). In turn, vocabulary learning, which continues throughout life, experiences a rapid growth around 18 months of age (Long, 1990; Kuhl, 2010).

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/critical-period

https://www.verywellmind.com/critical-period-in-brain-development-definition-importance-7556041