Physical Development Overview

Physical Development Overview

• Physical changes throughout life include increased height, strength, speed, agility, coordination, brain connectivity, and sensory/perceptual abilities.
• Physical development varies in speed across the lifespan.
• Peak physical development occurs at different points in individuals' lives.
• Lifestyle and sleep habits affect physical growth.

Principles of Physical Development

• Cephalocaudal Principle: Development occurs from the head down.
• Proximodistal Principle: Development occurs from the center of the body outward.
• Growth spurts occur in infancy/toddlerhood, early childhood/middle childhood and puberty, followed by a decrease in adulthood.

Brain Development

Infancy and Childhood

• Brain development is most sensitive during the prenatal period and throughout early childhood
• Rapid neuron generation (250,000 per minute) during the fetal stage.
• A newborn's brain is about 25% of adult weight.
• Brain development involves making and strengthening synaptic connections (synaptic blooming) and eliminating unnecessary connections (synaptic pruning).
• Myelination (coating axons with myelin) increases information transmission speed.
• Early interactions are essential for building strong synaptic connections.
• The brain is highly malleable during early development, but this capacity for adaptation persists throughout life.

Brain Anatomy

• The brain has two hemispheres and a cerebral cortex (outer layer) which is critical in perception, thinking, language, etc.
• The cerebral cortex is thin (2-4mm) and divided into four lobes (frontal, occipital, temporal, parietal).
• Deeper structures include the pituitary gland (links nervous and endocrine systems), hypothalamus (regulates body functions), amygdala (processes emotions), and hippocampus (processes memories).
• Hemispheres communicate through the corpus callosum.

Adolescence

• Brain structure continues changing during adolescence.
• Prefrontal cortex growth spurt.
• Connections between prefrontal cortex and limbic system develop further.
• Amygdala's role in emotions is heightened during adolescence.
• Changes in the amygdala may be linked to risky behaviors.

Adulthood

• Brain structure continues to change.
• Information processing speed may decrease.
• The brain remains plastic (adaptable) throughout adulthood, allowing for healing and adjustments.
• Genetic predisposition, nutrition, stress, drug use, mental illness, trauma, and accidents influence brain change.

Maltreatment, Abuse, and Neglect

• A lack of interaction with others negatively impacts the brain's necessary connections.
• Maltreatment and neglect result in a smaller brain, reduced intelligence, and information processing deficits.
• Nutritional deficiencies lead to brain damage.
• Brain development is still plastic, allowing for compensation in adverse environments.

Role of Sleep Throughout the Lifespan

• Sleep is crucial for neural processing.
• During sleep information is organized, unimportant details are culled, and important information is stored and combined.
• Sleep deprivation negatively affects learning and memory retrieval.
• Various sleep stages are important for optimal brain function.