Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/brain-development-research-support-and-challenges/5011706/
Our evolution as a species follows the same path as the evolution of our thoughts. Old ideas, assumptions, and theories converge with new ideas, needs, insights, and technologies, and "bingo" we take a step forward in our thinking. This is precisely the impact the release of the neuroscience research has had on the field of early childhood and, more importantly, on the general public. What we thought we knew has been challenged. In some cases, our thinking has been reinforced. In other cases, our thinking has been altered. In every case, and for the first time in a very long time, the spotlight is on early development. It is a tremendous window of opportunity.Until recently, information about the brain could be obtained only through animal studies or human autopsies. In the last decade, technological advances have allowed scientists to study the brains of living people. Using new tools (ultrasound, MRI, PET, and EEG), scientists can study the function, structure, and energy of living, active, human brains. The information gained through these tools has changed forever the way we view the human capacity for learning. We have broadened our perspective from a psychological base of understanding (dependent on researchers like Piaget, Skinner, ...