Ways Parents Can Nurture Their Child's Brain Development

The human brain is the most complex organ in the body, and its development begins early in the fetal development cycle. Dr. Curtis Cripe explains that as the brain continues to develop throughout infancy and childhood, it is crucial for parents to do what they can to promote and nurture brain development in their children.

During pregnancy, soon-to-be-mothers need to get enough nutrients, including folic acid and omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for the developing brain. Dr. Curtis Cripe emphasizes the fact that brain development doesn't stop at birth. Once the baby is born, continued stimulation through activities such as reading, singing, and talking will help support healthy brain development.

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Below, Dr. Curtis Cripe shares some steps parents can take to promote their child's brain development.

Encourage reading from an early age: Reading with your child from an early age is a great way to stimulate their brain development. Not only will they learn new words and concepts, but they will also start to develop important reading skills.

Make time for play: Play is essential for healthy brain development in children. Making time for play allows children to practice essential social and motor skills and explore the world around them with a healthy curiosity.

Encourage positive discipline: It is important to encourage positive behavior in children from an early age. This means using techniques such as praise and rewards rather than punishment.

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Create a stimulating environment: The home environment can significantly impact a child's brain development. Creating a stimulating environment with plenty of toys and activities will help support healthy brain development.

Parents can find a variety of other sources by exploring resources such as the internet, libraries, and consulting with pediatric healthcare professionals. Dr. Curtis Cripe reminds parents that each child is different and will develop at their own pace.

Neuroengineer Dr. Curtis Cripe has a multi-disciplinary background that includes engineering, brain injury, child neurodevelopment, and software development, among others. Bookmark this page to read the latest posts from Dr. Cripe.

NTL Group: A Look Into the World of Neurology

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The work of neurologists, is to understand and treat people with diseases that affect the brain, spine, peripheral nerves, muscles, and autonomic nervous system. A neurologist assesses a patient's symptoms to determine certain conditions like tumors or epilepsy. A patient may be referred to a neurologist by their GP or another medical or specialist doctor. The referral letter from the GP will give details of the problem and what it is believed may be causing it. Dr. Curtis Cripe notes that neurologists also see children referred by a pediatrician because they have not reached their developmental milestones, for example, walking at an appropriate age. In addition, a neurologist may also see them if they have a learning disability.

A neurologist's work is mainly carried out in hospitals, but some do perform outpatient clinic appointments. Neurologists use testing and diagnostics to help determine certain issues based on findings.

A typical working day for a neurologist may involve consulting in a clinic or being on call to deal with emergencies. Dr. Curtis Cripe adds that the work is often demanding and requires good mental acuity.

Neurologists also help develop new treatments for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and movement disorders, which require cutting-edge research in genetics and stem cell research. Neurosurgeons working in neurology also may perform deep brain stimulation to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia, as well as surgeries for epilepsy such as disconnecting the corpus callosum.

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Neurologists need a good understanding of their specialist field and some general knowledge from other medical professions. For example, they may require anatomy, physiology, and pathology knowledge.

A neurologist will also need excellent clinical skills to diagnose disease through examination, patient history, and investigations, including blood tests, X-rays, MRI scans, and lumbar puncture. It is not always easy to define what symptoms mean because the cause of the problem is not always clear.

Furthermore, Dr. Curtis Cripe mentions that neurologists have to evaluate the patient's quality of life and focus on improving it by identifying the root cause of the symptoms, which may require input from several other medical professionals.

Dr. Curtis Cripe is the founder and neuroengineer for NTL Group, a consortium of like-minded researchers and healthcare professionals whose primary object is to help those recovery addictions, traumatic brain injuries, and neurodevelopmental delays. For more updates like this, visit this blog.

The major elements of memory

Memory plays an important role in the brain’s completion of different tasks, as Dr. Curtis Cripe emphasizes in his neurodevelopment program. One of the most frequent tasks of the brain is cognition, which is defined by Oxford dictionary as “the process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.” Memory is crucial in cognition because it is required in learning, storing, and using information received by the brain.

The major elements of memory are the following:

Short-term memory: This refers to the amount or bits of information that the brain retains at any point in time. It can last between one second and 24 hours, with the span depending on the amount of relevance is placed on the memory.

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Intermediate memory: Also referred to as working memory, intermediate memory occurs when the information or memory has been processed. It determines how one might feel or decide in a given situation. Dr. Curtis Cripe mentions that some developmental delays in children and dementia in adults can be caused by poor working memory, or even short-term memory challenges.

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Long-term memory: Memories that can be recalled for years, or even throughout one’s life, are part of the long-term memory. This is divided into three parts, namely, episodic memory (events and experiences), semantic memory (facts, concepts, textbook information, and other similar information), and procedural memory (skills, tasks, and hands-on learning.)

Dr. Curtis Cripe is a neuroengineer with a diverse multidisciplinary background that includes software development, bioengineering, addiction recovery, psychophysiology, brain injury, and more. Visit this website to read similar articles.

The causes and treatments of memory loss

Short-term memory or the onset of forgetfulness, even if simply occasional, can be significantly disruptive to daily lives. There are a variety of causes for loss of memory, and we’ve outlined them below:

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One common cause is both prescription drugs and over-the-counter medication. It could very possibly be that your sleeping pills, antihistamines, anti-depressants, pain medication after undergoing a surgery, or muscle relaxants are interfering with your memory. Secondly, there’s lack of sleep. If you’ve been overworked and simply getting too little sleep, the resulting fatigue could also affect the processing and retrieval of information in the brain.


Other major contributors to memory loss are bad nutrition or deficiency in nutrients and vitamins, stress and depression, heavy consumption of alcohol, smoking, drug use, and incurrence of a head injury. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to mitigate the condition. Eating healthier food and sleeping right are practical ways to keep memory loss at bay.

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For most people getting on in age, it’s advisable to socialize more regularly, as doing so pushes back depression and stress which are also known causes of memory loss. Staying mentally active, from doing crossword puzzles and volunteering for civic projects to learning to play a musical instrument or reading more books, is also an effective deterrent of memory loss.

Engaging in more physical activities is also a good way to retain a sharp memory. A sedentary life decreases blood flow throughout our body and brain. Jogging, brisk walking, and doing aerobics and meditation activities like yoga help greatly; a simple 10- to 15-minute walk in a day is a great regular habit to develop.

Dr. Curtis Cripe is the head of research and development at the NTL Group, which specializes in developing brain-based technology for healing and repairing neurological dysfunctions. For more info on Dr. Curtis and the NTL Group, go to this website.

Digit span: Its importance in neurodevelopment

Memory plays a huge part in one’s life. In learning, the brain is made stronger and more robust with the help of enhanced memory. In aging, using an individual’s various skill sets well into their older years, as well as remembering abilities, partly rely on memory. 

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In brain function, memory is one of the most important aspects because, as Crossroads Institute notes, it “defines who we are, what we know, and how we utilize what we know.” 

There are three categories of memories, namely short-term, intermediate or working, and long-term memory. Short-term memory can be measured using digit spans. It is done by letting the participants see or hear a sequence of numbers, and then checking if they were able to recall the digits correctly, either in the normal or reverse order. The longest sequential numbers they accurately remember serves as the digit span. The digit span is a representation of how much information any person can retain at any point in time. 

There are two ways of determining the digital span: either using auditory or visual triggers. If these digit spans are lower than the normal for a person at their age, or there is a significant disparity between the two, the individual could experience learning or behavioral problems. 

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Dr. Curtis Cripe has a diverse background in various fields, including neuroengineering, psychology, psychophysiology, addiction recovery, brain injury, and child neurodevelopment. For more information about him, visit this LinkedIn page.