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Early educational and health enrichment at age 3–5 years is associated with increased autonomic and central nervous system arousal and orienting at age 11 years: Evidence from the Mauritius Child Health Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2001

ADRIAN RAINE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
PETER H. VENABLES
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA Department of Psychology, University of York, York, England
CYRIL DALAIS
Affiliation:
Child Health Project, Mauritius
KJETIL MELLINGEN
Affiliation:
Child Health Project, Mauritius
CHANDRA REYNOLDS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
SARNOFF A. MEDNICK
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA Social Science Research Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
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Abstract

Little is known about the effects of environmental enrichment on psychophysiological measures of arousal and orienting in humans. This study tests the hypothesis that early educational and health enrichment is associated with long-term increases in psychophysiological orienting and arousal. One hundred children were experimentally assigned to a two-year enriched nursery school intervention at ages 3–5 years and matched at age 3 years on psychophysiological measures, gender, and ethnicity to 100 comparisons who received the normal educational experience. Children were retested 6–8 years later at age 11 years on skin conductance (SC) and electroencephalogram (EEG) measures of arousal and attention during pre- and postexperimental rest periods and during the continuous performance task. Nursery enrichment was associated with increased SC amplitudes, faster SC rise times, faster SC recovery times, and less slow-wave EEG during both rest and CPT conditions. This is believed to be the first study to show that early environmental enrichment is associated with long-term increases in psychophysiological orienting and arousal in humans. Results draw attention to the important influence of the early environment in shaping later psychophysiological functioning.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2001 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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