原英文版本发布自哈佛儿童发育研究中心，中文为我自己翻译。非专业翻译，尽力传达原文意思。

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The science of early brain development caninform investments in early childhood. These basic concepts, established overdecades of neuroscience and behavioral research, help illustrate why child development—particularlyfrom birth to five years—is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainablesociety.

早期大脑发育科学让我们知道，幼儿教育是需要投资的。这些基本概念是经过几十年的神经科学和行为研究而形成的，有助于阐明为什么儿童发育——尤其是从出生到5岁——是一个繁荣和可持续社会的基础。

1

Brains are built over time, from thebottom up. The basic architecture of the brain is con­structed through anongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood. Earlyexperiences affect the quality of that architecture by establishing either asturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the learning, health and behaviorthat fol­low. In the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neuralconnections are formed every second. After this period of rapid proliferation,connections are reduced through a pro­cess called pruning, so that braincircuits become more efficient. Sensory pathways like those for basic visionand hearing are the first to develop, followed by early language skills andhigher cognitive functions. Connec­tions proliferate and prune in a prescribedorder, with later, more complex brain circuits built upon earlier, simplercircuits.

大脑是随着时间从下而上建立起来的。大脑的基本结构是通过一个持续的过程构建的，这个过程从出生前开始，一直持续到成年。早期的经验通过为随后的学习、健康和行为建立坚实或脆弱的基础来影响体系结构的质量。在生命的最初几年，每秒钟都有超过100万个新的神经通过连接而形成。在这段快速增殖的时期之后，神经的连接因为一个叫做修剪的过程被减少，因此大脑回路变得更加有效。像基本视觉和听觉这样的感觉传导路是最先发展起来的，其次是早期语言技能和高级认知功能。神经的连接按规定的顺序增殖和修剪，随后，更复杂的大脑回路建立在更早的、更简单的回路之上。

In the proliferation and pruning process, simpler neural connections form first, followed by more complex circuits. The timing is genetic, but early experiences determine whether the circuits are strong or weak.

在增殖和修剪过程中，先形成简单的神经连接，然后形成更复杂的电路。时机是遗传的，但是早期的经验决定了电路是强是弱。

2

The interactive influ­ences of genes and experience shape thedeveloping brain. Scientists now know a major ingredi­ent in this developmentalprocess is the “serve and return” relationship between children and theirparents and other caregivers in the family or community. Young childrennaturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, andgestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturingback at them. In the absence of such responses—or if the responses areunreliable or inappropriate—the brain’s architecture does not form as expected,which can lead to disparities in learning and behavior.

基因和经验的交互影响塑造了发育中的大脑。科学家现在知道，在这一发展过程中，一个主要因素是儿童与父母以及家庭或社区中其他照护者之间的“服务和回报”关系。小孩子自然会通过咿呀学语、面部表情和手势来与人交流，成年人也会以同样的方式回应他们。如果没有这些反应，或者这些反应不可靠或不恰当，大脑的结构就不会像预期的那样形成，这就会导致学习和行为上的差异。

3

The brain’s capacity for changedecreases with age. The brain is most flexible, or “plastic,” early in life toaccom­modate a wide range of environ­ments and interactions, but as thematuring brain becomes more specialized to assume more complex functions, it isless capable of reorganizing and adapting to new or unexpected challenges. Forexample, by the first year, the parts of the brain that differentiate sound arebecoming specialized to the language the baby has been ex­posed to; at the sametime, the brain is already start­ing to lose the ability to recognize differentsounds found in other languages. Although the “windows” for language learningand other skills remain open, these brain circuits become increasinglydifficult to alter over time. Early plasticity means it’s easier and moreeffective to influence a baby’s developing brain architecture than to rewireparts of its circuitry in the adult years.

随着年龄的增长，大脑的变化能力也在减弱。大脑在生命早期是最灵活的，或者说“可塑性”最强的，能够适应各种环境和互动，但随着成熟的大脑变得更加专业化，能够承担更复杂的功能，它重组和适应新挑战或意外挑战的能力就更弱。例如，在婴儿出生的第一年，大脑中负责区分声音的部分就开始专门针对婴儿所接触的语言;与此同时，大脑已经开始失去识别其他语言中不同声音的能力。尽管语言学习和其他技能的“窗口”仍然打开，但随着时间的推移，这些大脑回路变得越来越难以改变。早期的可塑性意味着影响婴儿发育中的大脑结构比在成年后重新连接部分电路更容易、更有效。

4

Cognitive, emotional, and socialcapacities are inextricably intertwined throughout the life course. The brainis a highly interrelated organ, and its multiple functions operate in a richlycoordinated fashion. Emotional well-being and social competence provide astrong foundation for emerging cognitive abilities, and together they are thebricks and mortar that comprise the foundation of human develop­ment. Theemotional and physical health, social skills, and cognitive-linguisticcapacities that emerge in the early years are all important prerequisites for successin school and later in the workplace and com­munity.

认知、情感和社会能力在整个人生过程中不可分割地交织在一起。大脑是一个高度相关的器官，它的多种功能以一种高度协调的方式运作。情感幸福和社会能力为新兴的认知能力提供了坚实的基础，它们共同构成了人类发展的基础。早期出现的情绪和身体健康、社交技能和认知语言能力都是在学校、后来在工作场所和社区取得成功的重要先决条件。

5

Toxic stress damages developing brainarchi­tecture, which can lead to life-long problems in learning, behavior, andphysical and mental health. Scientists now know that chronic, unrelentingstress in early childhood, caused by extreme poverty, repeated abuse, or severematernal depression, for example, can be toxic to the developing brain. Whilepositive stress (moderate, short-lived physi­ological responses touncomfortable experiences) is an important and necessary aspect of healthydevelopment, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’sstress management system. In the absence of the buffering protection of adultsupport, toxic stress becomes built into the body by processes that shape thearchitecture of the devel­oping brain.

毒性压力会损害大脑结构的发展，导致终生的学习、行为和身心健康问题。科学家们现在知道，儿童早期由极度贫困、反复虐待或母亲严重抑郁等因素造成的慢性、持续的压力，可能对发育中的大脑有害。积极的压力(对不舒服的经历的适度的、短暂的生理反应)是健康发展的一个重要和必要的方面，而有害的压力是对身体压力管理系统的强烈的、不可缓解的激活。在缺乏成年人支持的缓冲保护的情况下，毒性压力通过塑造发育中的大脑结构的过程进入体内。

Brains subjected to toxic stress have underdeveloped neuralconnections in areas of the brain most important for successful learning andbehavior in school and the workplace.

大脑中受到有毒压力的部分神经连接不发达，而这些区域对在学校和工作场所的成*学功**习和行为至关重要。

原文来源于：www.developingchild.harvard.edu/library/