By Brittany Karford
Baby geniuses aren?t born ? they?re coddled, sung to and spoken to often.
Sounds simple enough, but new research is adding to a bank of studies showing that the best way to increase a baby?s intelligence is through interaction.
The latest finding: gently bouncing a baby to the beat helps wire their brain to hear rhythm. Experts from universities across the continent concluded that the movement incorporates multiple senses, helping the brain pulse and wiring the sensory system. The early experience, which most parents do naturally, is important for learning down the road.
The news builds on similar studies done by some of BYU?s own, which shows that music alone can increase a baby?s health and intelligence ? even before they are born.
?We know that the fetus''s ear is complete at 6 months in utero,? said Rosalie Rebollo Pratt, a former BYU music professor. ?Ergo, the fetus can hear from then on, albeit in an aqueous environment.?
In 1998, Pratt and her students released their findings on just how music effects babies in newborn intensive-care units. From their studies, exposing infants to a regimen of classical music lowered heart rates, increased oxygen saturation and reduced stressful behavior. Their ?lullaby babies? also had higher caloric intake and weight gain.
?Any music has an effect on the fetus,? Pratt said. ?Melodic and chordal music is best. Classical music ? that of Hydn and Mozart ? is especially salubrious. Rock music or any music with a displaced accent should be avoided.?
While the evidence of music impacting babies? health is clear, proof that music alone directly affects their intelligence is lacking. However, there is sound research regarding vocal interaction with an infant and their mental growth.
Pratt found that babies prefer singing to speaking, and that the act of singing to has greater results than simply playing music.
?Lullabies are good because they have a short melody range, slow harmonic rhythm and minimum dynamic changes,? Pratt said. ?Sing to them ? both father and mother. The father is equally effective on the baby.?
Interaction from both parents stimulates a baby?s brain activity. In addition to music, Pratt advises doing finger plays, exposing them to pictures and objects and speaking.
While interaction is a great place to start, one might be surprised out how young some start school.
The youngest students enrolled at Kids on the Move Early in Orem are just eight weeks old. In a 1-4 teacher-student ratio, teachers spend up to 40 hours a week with the children age three and under.
?We have an individualized curriculum for each child,? said Iris Crannell, the early education coordinator at Kids on the Move.
So what would an 8-week-old baby?s curriculum involve? The same interactions, talking and holding contact spoken of across the board.
?We follow the child?s routine, mimicking what the baby does,? Crannell said. ?It excites the baby?s communication process.?
Crannell emphasized the first three years of life are the most important of a child?s development, as 80 percent of brain development occurs during this time.
?Children even in embryo can benefit from being read to,? she said. ?They learn to recognize their parent?s voice and bond from just talking in general.?
According to the Metcalf Infant Research Laboratory at Brown University, babies can recognize the sound patterns of their native language in the first few days of life. By the time they are four months old they can recognize their own name, at six months they can associate the word ?mommy? with their own mother and at seven months they can pull individual words out of the speech they hear.
The brain consistently undergoes a pruning process, clearing out brain cells that are not used. Crannell said pathways in a baby?s brain are established as they are used, and those that aren?t get erased, making it harder to learn the same thing later.
The Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Pennsylvania proposes that what children learn without any conscious effort from birth to three or four years of age can only be learned with great effort, or may not be learned at all, in later life.
The IAHP even offers courses like ?How to Multiply Your Baby?s Intelligence,? through which parents may learn how to teach their children to read, learn a foreign language or even appreciate mathematics.
Yet Crannell said specialized programs are not absolutely necessary. Hers is a subsidized Head Start program primarily offered to infants with the greatest need, from low-functioning families, teen mothers working to get their GED or others with extenuating circumstances.
?It truly takes a village to grow a child,? said Crannell?s team of teachers Shaul Kanigan and Annett Holden. ?Prodigies must have opportunity. There are a lot of geniuses in prison ? a lot of smart children are out there, but just lack the attention.?
It seems the overall best thing to increase a baby?s IQ is giving them the attention they need.
?Family meals are just as or more important than reading to a child every day,? Crannell said.