Sue Gerhardt has just published her book, Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain. The book is a survey of recent research into the development of the brain. For example, a group of researchers studied the brains of Romanian orphans - children who had been left to cry in their cots from birth and denied any chance of forming close bonds with an adult. They discovered that these babies had a "virtual black hole" where the orbitofrontal cortex should have been. This is the part of the brain that enables us to manage our emotions, to relate sensitively to other people, to experience pleasure and to appreciate beauty. In other words, this early experience had left permanent brain damage. How do scientists explain this? Well, according to Gerhardt, our earliest experiences are not simply laid down as memories or influences, they are translated into precise physiological patterns of response in the brain that then set the neurological rules for how we deal with our feelings and those of other people for the rest of our lives. If you have views on this subject, register with the Education Forum and join the debate.

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