Two-year-old Henry is completely transfixed by the iPad in front of him. Every time a smiley face appears he taps the screen – and his tap transforms the face into a cartoon of a dancing animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It looks like a simple, repetitive game, but is actually a test of a fundamental skill that is developing in the toddler\u2019s growing brain. Henry is wearing a sensor-laden cap with wires emerging from it that are attached to a large piece of analytical machinery. While Henry plays the game, the cap is scanning his brain activity and building up a picture of how well he can control his decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a test of inhibitory control, one of the skills scientists at the University of Bristol are measuring in babies and toddlers, as part of a mission to understand how and when very young children develop abilities that enable them to focus and learn.
Scientists already know these skills are critical – but they don\u2019t yet know at what point they are established in an infant brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The development of hundreds of children – from the age of six months to five years – is being tracked as they form the key skills that will shape their academic and social abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what is really special about this pioneering project is that it is a human experiment within another decades-long human experiment. The mothers of 300 of the children being studied are themselves part of a project that has monitored their health since they too were babies, in the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lifetime of data is being gathered that could reveal links between the brain development of the children being studied now and the health, experiences and genetics of their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a study of child development, already having all this rich information about the parents is \u201ccompletely unique in the world\u201d, lead researcher Dr Karla Holmboe says.
\u201cWe need to know when different skills develop and we need to understand how individual children develop over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Children who are struggling when they start school tend to continue to struggle, Dr Holmboe explains. \u201cThat can even continue into adulthood. So, there\u2019s this whole period of development that we need to understand so we can support children at a much younger age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the study, young participants and their parents are invited to the university psychology lab to play scientific games and have their brain activity measured. Many have MRI scans at the ages of six months, three years and five years, generating a true picture of their young, developing brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Key to the smiley face game Henry is playing is where that face appears on the iPad screen. Just as the toddler gets used to the face repeatedly popping up on the right side of his screen, it randomly starts appearing on the other side too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing if Henry can resist the urge to just keep tapping on the right,\u201d explains research assistant Carmel Brough, \u201cand instead look for where the smiley face is.\u201d
This skill, explains Dr Holmboe, is critical when children start school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a classroom, a child needs to be able to focus and not let their attention drift,\u201d she says. \u201cTo learn new things, we need to be able to stop old habits.\u201d
In another room, Jackson, who is also aged two, is playing a game designed to test his working memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A research assistant encourages him to watch as she puts stickers in different pots. The toddler is then asked to recall which pots contain stickers, and which do not. The motivating factor? Jackson can keep all the stickers he finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWorking memory is when we need to keep a little bit of information in our head to solve a problem or do a task – like a puzzle, or even just remembering where we put something two minutes ago,\u201d explains Dr Holmboe. \u201cFor children, you can imagine we need these skills when we learn maths or learn to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are what I call \u2018building blocks\u2019 of really important skills.\u201d
The study will also assess language development and processing speed – a measure of how quickly children pick up new information. The Children of the 90s project is now 35 years old. Focused primarily on health, by tracking 14,500 children born between 1991 and 1992, it has revealed insights into obesity, autism and, more recently, the effect of the pandemic on mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project\u2019s data has been made available to scientists around the world and has been cited in thousands of scientific papers. One study of the diets of children of the 90s provided evidence that, while a child\u2019s fussy eating is often worrying, it is unlikely to have any lasting impact on their health and development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to repeated health-screenings that have been key to the project, it also revealed that one in five young people shows signs of fatty liver disease, and one in 40 young people may have liver scarring – caused largely by obesity and alcohol consumption. This has shown just how common the condition is and provided insights into ways it can be prevented through diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the scientific revelations keep on coming. Last month, the study revealed that children who lacked oily fish in their diets were less sociable and kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this latest study \u2013 of the children of the children of the 90s \u2013 scientists are looking specifically at formative abilities and brain development. They will follow each child until they start school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily, who was studied as a child of the 90s, is Henry\u2019s mum. Today, her young son sits on her lap as he works on one of the research team\u2019s carefully designed puzzles.
\u201cWe\u2019ve both been a part of this since birth,\u201d Emily says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a choice for me at the start – my mum signed me up. But it is now, and I just think it\u2019s fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Helping children to thrive in the future is the aim, Dr Holmboe says. Because when children start school, she explains \u201ca lot of things are already set. \u201cThis is the groundwork that will help us support children at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Henry and Jackson finish their puzzles and games and take off their brain-scanning hats.
\u201cMy boys just love coming here,\u201d says Emily. \u201cThey love all the toys – they get free snacks. So I\u2019ll continue coming just as long as they want to. \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t you want to be part of this and maybe help future generations?\u201d (BBC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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