title: Brain Development and the Role of Experience in the Early Years.
abstract: Research over the past several decades has provided insight into the processes that govern early brain development and how those processes contribute to behavior. In the following article, we provide an overview of early brain development beginning with a summary of the prenatal period. We then turn to postnatal development and examine how brain functions are built and how experience mediates this process. Specifically, we discuss findings from research on speech and on face processing. The results of this research highlight how the first few years of life are a particularly important period of development of the brain.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Graduate School of Education.
authors.forename: Adrienne L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Tierney
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nelson
references.citation: Science. 2004 Jan 9;303(5655):197-202
references.pmid: 14716005
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 1996 Sep;79(1-2):227-32
references.pmid: 8883834
references.citation: Child Dev. 1983 Apr;54(2):424-35
references.pmid: 6683622
references.citation: Science. 2002 May 17;296(5571):1321-3
references.pmid: 12016317
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2004 Oct;16(8):1327-38
references.pmid: 15532128
references.citation: Science. 2007 Dec 21;318(5858):1937-40
references.pmid: 18096809
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004 Nov;5(11):831-43
references.pmid: 15496861
references.citation: Dev Psychopathol. 2008 Summer;20(3):861-80
references.pmid: 18606035
references.citation: Brain Res. 1973 Feb 28;50(2):403-7
references.pmid: 4705508
references.citation: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2000;23:1-37
references.pmid: 10845057
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1997 Oct 20;387(2):167-78
references.pmid: 9336221
references.citation: Science. 1999 Oct 1;286(5437):108-10
references.pmid: 10506555
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Jul 22;100(15):9096-101
references.pmid: 12861072
references.citation: J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2007 Oct;50(5):1365-81
references.pmid: 17905917
references.citation: Dev Psychopathol. 2003 Fall;15(4):885-907
references.pmid: 14984131
references.citation: Prog Neurobiol. 2007 Jun;82(3):109-21
references.pmid: 17493738
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Apr 5;102(14):5297-300
references.pmid: 15790676