The Developmental Landscape

Definition: According to neuroconstructivism, the structure and cognitive ability of the brain are the product of cascading interactions between genes and the environment. Neuroconstructivism can help us understand how our brains change as a result of our genes and life experiences. Every new thing we encounter—whether it's a new place we visit or a new friendship we make—shapes our brains. The theory of neuroconstructivism says that even small changes in how our brains work can have big impacts on how we develop. The things that can change how our brains develop include how our genes work, how our brain cells form and move, how many connections our brain cells make, how easily they "talk" to each other, and even what kinds of messages they send.

Figure reprinted from Waddington, 1957.

Metaphor: Back in 1957, scientist Conrad Waddington drew a picture of a ball on a bumpy landscape to explain how cells change into different types. Now, let's use this idea to think about how our brains grow with a mix of our genes and the world around us. Picture the ball rolling down this rough landscape—it's like a brain growing and changing. At first, it's on a wide, gentle slope, but as it rolls, it might head into one of the many deep, narrow valleys. Each valley represents a different way in which our brain could grow, leading to different results, our outcomes. The bumps and shapes of this landscape stand for things like our genes (the ball's starting point) and the signals from our environment (the twists and turns as it rolls). Even tiny changes in this landscape can lead to big differences in how our brains end up. This means that each person's brain journey is unique. It's why people have such different ways of thinking and learning, like the diverse abilities we see in our communities.