![]() The effect of chronic and toxic stressĬhronic and toxic stress can impair the proper development of brain circuitry, resulting in anxiety and self-control problems. Studies have found that infant attachment security predicts self-control when children begin their school years. Early experiences of secure or insecure attachment are encoded into the implicit (preverbal and unconscious) memory systems in the limbic brain, and become mindsets and expectations that guide subsequent behavior (e.g., attachment figures are safe or unsafe, accepting or rejecting). The sensitive and loving parent and caregiver calms and soothes the baby’s emotions and stress response, and, over time, the child learns self-regulation. This also leads to the child’s ability to self-regulate and to the formation of the child’s core beliefs (“internal working model”). ![]() This is called “limbic resonance,” and is the fundamental building block of secure attachment. The infant’s right brain and the attachment figure’s right brain are attuned during moments of connection. ![]() Babies are right-hemisphere dominant, responding primarily to preverbal and nonverbal emotional communication-facial expressions, eye contact, touch, tone of voice, and feelings of love, security and safety. Brain circuits are being created rapidly in the first year of life, and are largely determined by the quality of the infant–caregiver relationship and the level of stress. Prenatal stress produces increased norepinephrine (arousal and agitation) and decreased levels of dopamine and serotonin (depression, anxiety, emotional dysregulation). Our brains are basically social in nature. Chronic stress associated with lack of safe and secure attachment can impair the formation of brain circuits and alter levels of stress hormones, resulting in emotional and biological dysregulation, anxiety and depression.īrain development begins two weeks after conception and continues most rapidly during the first three years of life. Early attachment experiences play an essential role in shaping the architecture of the brain and building connections between parts of the brain. Relationship experiences in the early stages of life are most important in shaping the development of brain and behavior.īrain development in infancy is “experience dependent ” the baby’s brain, specifically the limbic system, relies on sensitive and attuned care from attachment figures for healthy growth and functioning. The infant’s brain, especially the limbic region, is an “open-loop system” because it relies on attuned and nurturing input from attachment figures for healthy growth and development. Effective treatment and therapeutic parenting can rewire the limbic system and reduce the biochemistry of stress. This can result in anxiety, depression and self-regulation problems. Traumatized children and adults often have impaired wiring in the brain’s limbic system and altered levels of stress hormones. Compromised attachment and traumatic stress trigger an alarm reaction, altering the neurobiology of the brain and central nervous system. So, helping children develop secure attachment in relationships is vitally important. Relationships shape the developing brain even before a child is born - and they continue to affect the brain’s wiring throughout childhood and adolescence, stages during which the brain grows more than at any other time in life. ![]()
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