So What about Genetics?

Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten: Raise IQ points by up to 30 points and turn on your child's smart genes Points
by David Perlmutter, M.D., Carol Colman

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And of course, there's a child's genetic makeup, which he gets from you, his parents. Genetics does play an important role in creating a smart brain, but not necessarily in the way that you would expect. And this is probably going to really surprise many of you - we now know that you actually have far more control over your genes than was once believed.

A healthy baby is born with the raw material to make a great brain, but there's still a lot of work to be done. The newborn brain has 100 billion brain cells (called neurons), but they are unable to communicate with each other very well. During the first one thousand days of life, neurons must learn to talk to each other by forming the vital connections - the neural "pathways to success" - that provide the foundation for language, vision, hearing, learning, feeling, and thinking. Enhancing these connections can spell the difference between a good brain and a great brain. A smart brain is hardwired to think, learn, process, and retrieve information quickly and efficiently. It's true that many of the processes of brain development are gene dependent, but it's also true that we have a great deal of say over how those genes behave.

It was once believed that if a child was lucky enough to have smart parents, he would inherit smart genes and be born with a great brain. Of course, it doesn't always work that way in real life because as we've now learned, there's so much more to this story than just pure genetics. Environment as well as genetics plays an important role in intelligence and future academic success. Babies who are loved, well nurtured, and well nourished grow up to be adults with higher IQs compared to babies who were not as well cared for. What we didn't fully appreciate in the past was the relationship between genes and environment, or more specifically, how it was possible for environment to affect genes, and therefore IQ.

We now have a much better understanding of the interrelationship between genes and the environment. Genes may determine the number and quality of brain cells you are born with, but environmental influences over which you as a parent have control turn on and off the very genes involved in brain development. More importantly, we now know that under the right circumstances, it is possible to turn on the right genes, the genes that will make a brain smarter. And I mean this literally.

Genes do their work by directing the production of proteins that are critical for brain development. These special proteins regulate the wiring between brain cells that ultimately makes the brain smarter, and they are especially important during this period of peak brain development. But what controls the smart genes in the first place? Lots of things, including regular mental stimulation, physical activity, the right foods and nutrients, and the experience of feeling loved and emotionally secure.

We also know that a negative environment can turn on bad genes and/or prevent good genes from being activated. Children who are fed a less than optimal diet, not raised in a mentally stimulating environment, exposed to dangerous chemicals in the environment, or raised in a stressful household are not as likely to achieve their full intellectual potential as children raised under better conditions.

What Are Brain-Building Activities?

Brain-building activities are those that challenge the brain, thereby stimulating the neurons to make more connections, which will make the brain stronger, faster, more efficient, and ultimately smarter. The point of these activities is to train the brain how to think, not what to think. It's about building up the brain's capacity so that your child will be better able to process and utilize information for her entire life. The right kind of stimulation at this pivotal time will create an optimal brain, one that will give your child better tools to perform well in the classroom.

The achievable goal during this critical window of opportunity is to create the fastest, most efficient, and highest-capacity brain, setting the stage for future success. Much as we all strive for the fastest computer with the most storage capacity, you can achieve the same results with your child's brain. Again, the goal is not to overwhelm your child's brain with as many facts as possible before she starts kindergarten, but rather to create a brain that stores facts efficiently and, most importantly, is able to retrieve them easily. Essentially, the goal should not be what she learns, but how she learns.

During the first five years of life, when the brain is undergoing rapid development, children should spend most of their waking hours engaged in brain-building endeavors. Unfortunately, children are devoting too much time to activities that dull their brains, deaden their senses, and put their future academic careers at risk. Watching television or DVDs - even educational programs - for hours on end, as many children do, is not good for a growing brain. Nor is playing video games for hours at a time. But don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting small children shouldn't have any fun or that they should be subjected to a rigorous academic setting. That would be a terrible mistake. Children learn best when they are happy, relaxed, and stimulated. That's one of the reasons why play is one of the best activities for young children.

It may surprise you to learn that physical activity is also a terrific brain builder. It boosts levels of the growth hormone in the brain that makes better brain cells. But perhaps the most brain-enhancing activity of all is imaginative play, the kind of play that comes naturally to children when they have the time and space to pursue it.

Copyright © 2006 by David Perlmutter, M.D.

About the Author

David Perlmutter, M.D., is a board-certified neurologist and founder of the Perlmutter Health Center. He is the author of The Better Brain Book and a recipient of the Linus Pauling Award. Dr. Perlmutter has appeared widely on television and as a speaker. He lives in Naples, Florida.

Carol Colman is the author of a dozen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Stop Depression Now and The Melatonin Miracle. Carol lives in New York City.