Early Brain Development

Early exposure to adverse experiences and stressors, such as poverty, unstable home environments, violence, and a lack of access to quality early education, can negatively affect a child’s development and long-term health and well-being. These experiences, especially within the first three years of life, transform the architecture of the developing brain and have lifelong impacts on a child’s cognitive and emotional development.

Tested policy approaches, such as evidence-based home visiting and maternal depression screening, can buffer the effects of adverse experiences and help shape the social environments in which children grow up and build a strong foundation for their health and wellness. ASTHO’s Early Brain Development project identifies and shares evidence and strategies to help states and territories foster healthy early childhood brain development.