Brain Hero

"The most important experiences come from the environment of relationships that interact with each child: parents, extended family, and caregivers of all kinds. But serious adversity early in life can disrupt healthy brain development...What happens early matters for a lifetime."

In 2009, the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched a collaboration with the Interactive Media Division of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California (USC) to develop and test new ways of communicating the science of early childhood development using interactive media. The "Brain Hero" video, depicting how actions by a range of people in the family and community impact child development, is the first product of this collaboration. It adapts the visual sensibility of interactive game models to a video format. Based loosely on such games as "Guitar Hero," "SimCity," and "The Game of Life," the video portrays how actions taken by parents, teachers, policymakers, and others can affect life outcomes for both the child and the surrounding community.

This collaboration will continue joint work on the creation and dissemination of storytelling products designed to inform the public discourse around policies and practices that support healthy brain development during childhood.