Raine's Mauritius study

• Sample

  • 100 children aged 3 with a low heart rate (an indicator of aggression) were given an intervention to develop their pre-frontal cortex
• Procedure


  Intervention consisted of:

  1. Nutrition - a balanced nutrition's diet was provided (including a cooked meal once a day)
  2. Physical exercise - sessions of structured games, gym and free play
  3. Cognitive stimulation - a curriculum consisting of toys, arts, crafts, drama and music was adopted

  They were matched against a control group of 100 children
• Results

  • At age 11, the group who received the intervention showed better concentration and had more mature brains
  • At age 17 they showed significantly lower levels of conduct disorder (antisocial/criminal behaviour) were less cruel to others, less likely to start fights, were less hot-tempered and less likely to bully others