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Towards an understanding of neurophysiological self‐regulation in early childhood: A heuristic and a new approach
Author(s) -
Holochwost Steven J.,
Kolacz Jacek,
MillsKoonce W. Roger
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.22044
Subject(s) - neurophysiology , heuristic , computer science , psychology , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , cognitive science
Self‐regulation in early childhood encompasses both “top down,” volitional processes, as well as the “bottom up” activity of three neurophysiological systems: the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis. In this paper we briefly review the structure, function, and early development of each of these systems and then explain why neurophysiological self‐regulation is most accurately defined as a function of their joint activity. We note that while there are a number of predictive models that employ this definition, the field would benefit from a straightforward heuristic and aligned methods of visualization and analysis. We then present one such heuristic, which we call neurophysiological space, and outline how it may facilitate a new, collaborative approach to building a better understanding of self‐regulation in early childhood. We conclude with a presentation of early education as one setting in which our heuristic and methods could be applied.