How Does Your Ability to Move Affect Your Socialization Skills and Go Baby Go with Dr. Cole Galloway

Did you know that your brain development is highly dependent on your mobility?  And that this affects babies and their ability to socialize?   We talked about these concepts and more in this week’s episode of the Weekend Wellness Hour Show with scientist and researcher Dr. Cole Galloway.  Dr. Galloway shared his progression into research using robotics to help babies move at 4-6 months of age.   He discovered how brain activity increases when babies have an active participation in their movement through their environment versus passively being moved by another person.  Dr. Galloway expressed the importance of this finding for social development.   We discussed how this led to the Go Baby Go, a 300 chapter international research, education and advocacy movement -- where he invents and studies devices for children and adults with severe mobility issues.  He explained how many parents begged for little cars for their infants so that their children with physical disabilities could develop social skills.   Dr. Galloway shared how this research has led to much media attention from CNN to the discover channel to more. This has helped him raise awareness of mobility as a human right.   He is currently working with Toyota for production of these little robotic cars for babies with disabilities but finds challenges with companies not wanting to take on the legal challenges of babies operating robots. Currently though, STEM programs around the country teach teenagers how to build these vehicles for children in need.   Dr Galloway is a professor at the University of Delaware and has a background of rehabilitation, neuroscience, child development, human-machine interaction and open-source culture.  His approach of combining high tech and low tech into “go tech” has garnered the interest, funding and awards from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Department of Education, and tech industries from medical to toy to auto.   Come learn about the importance of your environment in how your brain functions.  You don't want to miss this!     Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Cole Galloway at [email protected] or visit https://sites.udel.edu/gobabygo/.   -Dr. Amy Novotny   Subscribe to PABR Institute's email list for free Tips for Relief: https://pabrinstitute.activehosted.com/f/1   www.pabrinstitute.com