Our relationships play a big role in how our brain develops

     Experience plays a big role in how the brain develops, even in the face of same or other risk factors. We can look at genes and other important variables as some of the many factors that contribute to a larger picture of brain growth. Genes may influence some aspects of neural growth, but there is a much fuller set of factors that contribute to our well-being than genetics alone.

     How the mind unfolds, how relationships are supportive, how people feel a sense of belonging to a larger group all influence how the brain achieves and maintains integrative development at the root of our pathway toward health.

     Especially influential in terms of how the brain develops—and, in turn, how we learn to calm our emotions, how we understand ourselves, and how we relate to others and the larger world—are our experiences during infancy.