By J. Fraser Mustard

The Founders’ Network

Founding Chairman

Council for Early Child Development

October 3, 2008

Evaluation of Early Human

Development

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Second Annual Workshop of Fundacao

Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal

(1st presentation)

Presentation

Socioeconomic gradients in health and

literacy.

Experience-based brain development in

the early years and the effects on health,

learning, and behaviour.

Early human development – outcome

measures.

Success by Ten

The Mismatch Between Opportunity

and Investment

Age0 3 10 70

97-044

Brain's "Malleability"

Spending on Health,

Education and Welfare

03-076

CIAR - History

Population Health

Human Development

Experience-based Brain and

Biological Development

U.K. CIVIL SERVICEMortality - All Causes

4

8

12

16

2 4 6 8 100

Year of Follow-up

Other

Clerical

Professional/

Executive

Administrative

0

Cum

ula

tive M

ort

alit

y

91-068

Socioeconomic Gradients for Adult

Document Literacy Scores (16 to 65)

OECD, 2000

06-114

Mean Scores

Parents’ Education (years)

3 95 7 151311 19170

270

230

190

350

310

U.S.

Canada

Australia

Sweden

Finland

Intern’l Mean

Chile

Life Expectancy & Literacy

70

78

76

74

72

80

200 40 60 10080

Life

Exp

ecta

ncy a

t B

irth

Percent at Levels 1 and 2OECD

04-147

Health Gradients

Income

He

alt

h S

tatu

s06-008

National Health Interview Survey (1986 – 1995) in Case, 2002

2.25

2.00

1.75

1.5

8 9 10 11

13 - 17

AGES

9 - 12

4 - 8

0 - 3

03-080

HealthLearning (literacy)

Behaviour

Experience-Based Brain development in

the early years of life sets neurological

and biological pathways that affect

throughout life:

Why do we care about brains?

You are your brain.

BUT

Your brain is not just produced by your

genes.

Your brain is sculpted by a lifetime of

experiences. The most important time

in brain development is the first few

years of life.

Kolb, U Lethbridge

08-039

What is experience?

Everything that you encounter both

pre- and postnatally as well as in

adulthood…

Examples: sounds, touch, vision,

smell, food, thoughts, drugs, injury,

disease…

Kolb, U Lethbridge

08-026

Does Experience have the Same Effects on

Brain Development at Different Times in

Life?

No !

There are qualitative differences at

different stages of life.

There is something fundamentally

different prenatally vs infancy vs

juvenile vs adult.

One difference is gene expression.Kolb, U Lethbridge

08-029

SIGNAL-

SENDING

NEURON

RECIPIENT

NEURON

Synapse

Dendrite

Axon

Two Neurons04-039

03-079

Eye cataracts at birth prevent normal

development of vision neurons in theoccipital cortex

(Hubel and Wiesel)

Cochlear defects at birth impair

hearing development (Rauschecker and O’Donoghue)

Vision and Hearing

Critical Period

Brain Pathways

“Higher levels of brain circuits depend on

precise, reliable information from lower

levels in order to accomplish their function.

Sensitive periods for development of lower

level circuits ends early in life.

High level circuits remain plastic for a

longer period.”

Knudsen 2004

07-123

0 1 4 8 12 16

AGE

Human Brain Development –

Language and Cognition

SensingPathways

(vision, hearing)

LanguageHigherCognitive Function

3 6 9-3-6

Months Years

C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000.

01-003

Early Child Development and Language

Starts early – first 7 months

Sets capability for mastering

multiple languages

Sets literacy and language trajectories

04-200

02-001

0

600

1200

12 16 20 24 28 32 36

High SES

Middle SES

Low SES

Age - Months

Vocabulary Growth – First 3 Years

B. Hart & T. Risley, Meaningful Differences in Everyday

Experiences of Young American Children, 1995

Vocabulary

Test of Language Development

(TOLD) at Age 9

Correlation between vocabulary

growth at Age 3 and TOLD at

Age 9.

0.74

04-146

Health, Behaviour and Limbic

HPA Pathway

Allostasis & Allostatic Load

(Stress)

07-105

Emotional

Stimulus

PIT

Cortisol CortisolCRF

ACTH

Amygdala Hippocampus

Adrenal

Cortex

Hypothalamus

PVN+ + - -

LeDoux, Synaptic Self

03-002

Limbic HPA Pathway - Stress

Cortisol – Over Production

Behaviour, depression, diabetes, malnutrition,

cardiovascular disease, memory, immune

system, drug and alcohol addiction

Cortisol – Under Production

Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, immune

system (autoimmune disorders) rheumatoid

arthritis, allergies, asthma

05-212

Epigenetics – Regulation of

Normal Gene Function

Nature and Nurture

Epigenetics

MicroRNAs

08-109

Chuang & Jones, Pediatric Research, 2007.

Rats – Gene Methylation

0

0.4

0.8

1.2

Cyto

sin

e-M

eth

yla

tio

n

EmbryoDay 20

BirthDay 1

PupDay 6

AdultDay 90

WeaningDay 21

Licking

Low

Licking

High

Age M. Szyf

05-059

03-089

Serotonin Transporter Gene

Experience in Early Life - DepressionAge 26

No Abuse Moderate Abuse Severe Abuse

.30

.50

.70

A. Caspi, Science, 18 July 2003, Vol 301.

Depression

Risk

LL

SS

SL

S = Short Allele

L = Long Allele

Early Childhood

Early Experience and Brain Architecture and Function

Affects gene expression and neural pathways

Shapes emotion, regulates temperament and

social development

Shapes perceptual and cognitive ability

Shapes physical and mental health and behaviour

in adult life

Shapes physical activity (e.g. skiing, swimming,

etc.)

Shapes language and literacy capability

07-001

EARLY BRAIN and HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT

Outcome Measures

a) Neurobiology

- Cortisol – Epigenetics – Imaging

b) Brain functions – Population-based

Pregnancy

Age 0 - 18 months

Age 0 – 5/6 years - EDI

EDI is a crude macro

measure of early brain

development

03-085

Early Development Instrument (EDI)

Physical health, activity, and well-being

Communication skills and generalknowledge

Social knowledge and competence

Emotional health/maturity

Language and cognitive development

Physical Health, Physical Activity

and Well-being

This is a measure of brain development

in connection with how it affects

physical health, physical activity,

coordination and well-being.

08-124

Social Competence

Social competence includes ability to

get along with others, respect for adults,

self confidence, ability to control own

behaviour, follow routines and capable

of pro-social behaviour.

08-125

Emotional Maturity

Emotional maturity includes the ability to

reflect before acting, the ability to

concentrate, and is often helpful to other

children.

08-126

Language and Cognitive Development

08-127

This includes interest in books,

reading and writing, rudimentary

mathematics, ability to count and

recognize numbers and geometric

shapes.

Communication and General Knowledge

08-128

This includes communication skills

such as telling a story, and having

knowledge about the world around

them, and being able to communicate

with children and adults.

EDI Vulnerable Children

Score in the bottom 10% of any of

the five assessments.

08-129

Canada – EDI

Children 5-6 yrs

Adapted from NLSCY/UEY 1999-2000;

EDI 1999-2000

07-026

% Vulnerable

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

SES - Income

30

20

10

0

07-080

07-080

07-085

-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

Socioeconomic Status

0

10

20

30

40

Vulnerable Children Aged 4 to 6 –Ontario - NLSCY 1994-1998

1998

1996

Pre

va

len

ce

of

Vu

lne

rable

Ch

ildre

n

NLSCY

1994

British Columbia by District

District % vulnerable Families’

on one test Income

Kootenay 13.3 58,000

W. Vancouver 14.1 90,000

Kootenay Lake 18.1 45,000

Boundary 18.6 43,000

Richmond 26.7 58,000

Vancouver 37.9 51,000

Prince Rupert 39.6 55,000

08-130

Australia – AEDI

Children 5-6 yrs.07-027

% Vulnerable

SES - Income

Q1 Q4Q3Q2 Q6Q5

10

30

20

40

Proportion of Vulnerable Children

Age 5, Perth - AEDI

Suburb SES Vulnerability

1 test 2 tests

Canningvale 5 17.6 7.8

Thornlie 4 17.8 10.9

Huntingdale 4 20.0 8.4

Gosnells 3 27.6 10.0

Langford 2 39.3 19.6

Maddington 1 46.9 29.7 Adapted from

Brinkman, 2006

06-060

AEDI Results - SA

% Vulnerable on 1 or more Test

Roxby Downs 15.6

Port Augusta 43.1

Ingle Farm 32.5

Salisbury East 16.9

Alberton 10.5

Croydon Park 43.3

Seaton 50.0

07-063

Vancouver EDI

Reading

# of EDI % Failing % Not Passing

Vulnerabilities Grade 4 Grade 4

0 13.6 17.8

1 26.7 33.9

2-3 29.5 43.1

4-5 48.4 68.3

Hertzman, HELP, 2006

06-149

Vancouver EDI

Numeracy

# of % Failing % Not Passing

Vulnerabilities Grade 4 Grade 4

0 7.5 12.3

1 11.8 22.2

2-3 18.7 33.8

4-5 27.5 55.6

Hertzman, HELP, 2006

06-148

Math Scores, Ages 5-14(High SES)

NZ Council for Educational Research

08-089

Students’s age

sta

nd

ard

ise

d m

ath

em

atics s

co

re

median s

-2

0

2

5 6 8 10 12 14

Math Scores, Ages 5-14(Low SES)

NZ Council for Educational Research

08-090

student's age

stan

dard

ised

mat

hem

atic

s sc

ore

medians

-4

-2

0

2

5 6 8 10 12 14

Decrease in the % of vulnerable children in

middle class districts as a result of improved

ECD in Western Australia

Year

District 2003 2006

Vulnerable on one test

Floreat 47.22% 14.3%

Wembley 47.11% 11.8%

AEDI

07-204

Success by TenEarly Child Development

Intervene early

Intervene often

Intervene effectively

06-001

Ludwig and Sawhill,

Brookings Institution

A “Natural” Experiment:

Romanian Orphans Adopted

Children adopted after 8 months of age

show at 11 years in contrast to children

adopted early:

1. Abnormal brain development (small

brain, low metabolic activity, abnormal

EEG)

2. Social and cognitive problems (IQ loss)

3. High vulnerability to behavioural

problems (ADHD, aggression)Kolb, U Lethbridge

08-031

Romania – BEIP Project

The cognitive outcome of

children who remained in the

orphanages was markedly

below that of non orphanage

children and children taken

out of the orphanage and

placed in foster care.

Nelson et al. 2007. Science, v. 318

08-010

Abecedarian Study – Reading

Age 8 Age 12 Age 15 Age 21

Age at Testing

0

1.2

0.8

0.4

Effect Size Primary

Grades

Preschool Preschool &

Primary Grades

04-153

Rates of Return to Human Development

Investment Across all Ages

Pre-school Programs

School

Job Training

Return

Per

$

Invested

R

2

4

6

8

0 6 18Age

Pre-

School School Post School

03-074

WHO – Marmot Commission on

Social Determinants of Health

Chapter 5 – Equity from the Start

Recommendation 5.2:

Governments build universal

coverage of a comprehensive

package of quality early child

development programmes and

services for children, mothers,

and other caregivers, regardless

of ability to pay.

08-113

01-050

The principle of free education for

school-age children is already entrenched

throughout the rich world; there would be

nothing incongruous about extending it

further down the age range.

The Economist, pg 16, July 18, 1998

01-039

www.founders.net

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References

Mustard, J.F. Early child development and experience-based

brain development: the scientific underpinnings of the

importance of early child development. Washington: The

Brookings Institution. 2006. Available at:

www.founders.net

McCain, M.N., J.F. Mustard and S. Shanker. Early Years

Study 2: Putting Science into Action. Toronto: Council for

Early Child Development. 2007. www.councilecd.ca

Mustard, J.F. Investing in the Early Years: Closing the gap

between what we know and what we do. Adelaide: State

of South Australia. 2008. www.thinkers.sa.gov.au

Mustard, J.F. Literacy: Passport to Prosperity. Council of

Ministers of Education, Canada. Pan-Canadian

Interactive Literacy Forum. 2008. http://literacy.cmec.ca/