Announcements

• Update from Zero to Three: Brain Development FAQs. Want to know more about how the brain changes during the early years? Zero to Three has answers to some of their most frequently asked questions about early brain development.
  
• Research Update: Why we can’t remember our infancy  
• Research Update: Strengthening brain connections in the frontal lobe may help adolescents resist peer pressure
• Research Update from the Dana Foundation: New studies provide insight into links between brain development, poverty, and low IQ scores.
• Plan ahead! National Family Week is scheduled for November 23 through 29, 2008. Check the website for resources, and start planning celebrations of children and families in your community.

Publications

Developmental milestones Brochure

• English
• Spanish
  
  

Welcome to Better Brains for Babies

Welcome to the website of the Georgia Better Brains for Babies initiative. Our goal is to provide families and professionals with current research-based information about the brain, early brain development, and its implications for children in Georgia and throughout the United States.  We also provide information about practices that contribute to healthy brain development, and we connect you with resources to support brain development in young children.

To enter the site and begin exploring our information on brain development, click on either Parents and Families or Professionals above.

The Science of Early Brain Development

Recent advances in medical science have revealed that much of the brain’s development actually takes place after birth.  When a child is born, the cells (or neurons) that make up the brain are in place, but most of the connections that allow those neurons to communicate with each other have not been made.  Most of the pathways, or connections, are developed and refined to form the brain’s wiring during the early years of life. Children who have positive, enriching experiences during early childhood can more readily develop the wiring they will need for language, problem solving, forming relationships, and many other abilities that are fundamental in later life.

Our Vision: All children will grow up in healthy, secure, and enriching environments to help ensure their social, emotional, academic, and occupational success.

Our Mission: To disseminate research-based information about the importance of early brain development in infants and young children in order to educate parents, practitioners, policy makers, and the general public about practices and policies that can maximize the potential of Georgia's children.