The First Five Years Last the Rest of their Lives

Altered brain development following global neglect in early childhood

Further to the post below, Perry and Pollard 1997 is cited quite often in education discussions concerning both brain development and early childhood education. I thought I'd post the actual article. The highlight, the reason it got the attention it did, is below. The story, though I don't have time to confirm it, is that the poor child on the right is from a Romanian orphanage where neglect was the norm.

“These images illustrate the negative impact of neglect on the developing brain. In the CT scan on the left is an image from a healthy three year old with an average head size. The image on the right is from a three year old child suffering from severe sensory-deprivation neglect. This child’s brain is significantly smaller than average and has abnormal development of cortex.”