DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180622

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   82 lines

TALKING, READING TO BABY BOOSTS ITS BRAIN POWER, EXPERTS SAY

In a day of ``talking about baby talk'' and how brains grow, President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton heard from scientists Thursday that the neurological foundations for rational thinking, problem solving and reasoning appear to be largely established by age 1 - long before babies show any signs of knowing an abstraction from a pacifier.

Furthermore, the scientists said new studies are showing that spoken language has an astonishing impact on an infant's brain development. In fact, some researchers say the number of words an infant hears each day is the single most important predictor of later intelligence, school success and social competence.

There is one catch - the words have to come from an attentive, engaged human being. As far as anyone has been able to determine, radio and television do not work.

The president, surrounded Thursday by researchers and child-care experts in the East Room of the White House, contended that this decade's discoveries on nurturing babies' intellectual and emotional growth rival man's forays into space.

``This may be the most exciting and important exploration of all,'' he said. ``This must always be part of the public's business, because we all have a common interest in our children's future.''

The first lady Mrs. Clinton marveled at recent studies showing that infants, at 6 months old, are well on their way to learning language.

Dr. Patricia Kuhl, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington in Seattle and a key speaker at Thursday's conference, said earlier this week, ``We now know . . . that the infant's brain is literally waiting for experiences to determine how connections are made.''

This relatively new view of infant brain development, supported by many scientists, has obvious political and social implications. It suggests that infants and babies need not only a loving, but talkative and articulate caretaker, and that a more verbal family will increase an infant's chances for success. It challenges some deeply held beliefs - that infants will thrive intellectually if they are simply given lots of love and that efforts to purposely influence the cognitive development of babies are harmful.

For the Clintons, two working parents, the research's emphasis on early nurturing by parents also raised a thorny question: Does science prove mothers are better off staying at home?

Hillary Clinton faced the question head on with help from Dr. Deborah Phillips, a child-care expert with the National Research Council.

``Some people argue that what the research really tells us is that women with very young children should not work outside the home, period,'' the first lady said.

Phillips reassured her there was no evidence that placing young children in good-quality child care impinges on the parent-child bond or stops babies from thriving.

A report by the New York-based Families and Work Institute, which formed the core of the White House conference Thursday, found that during the first three years of life, the vast majority of the brain's synapses - or connections among brain cells - are formed.

How parents relate with children during that formative period directly affects emotional development, prospects for learning, and ability to handle stress as adults, the report said.

``At first glance, it may seem odd to hold a conference here at the White House devoted to talking about baby talk, but that discussion has never been more important,'' Hillary Clinton said in opening the daylong symposium.

Brain research from the past decade was presented by a panel of experts, including renowned pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, whom the Clintons engaged in lengthy discussions that were broadcast by satellite to nearly 100 ``watch parties'' around the nation.

Both the president and his wife also put a political twist on the day, arguing for more spending on early education, child care and health care.

But leading anti-abortion Republicans, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Majority Leader Dick Armey and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, criticized the conference for ignoring fetal brain development.

``We need to begin with the unborn child in the womb,'' they said in a letter to Clinton. ``To ignore or give short shrift to this stage of children's development would be undervaluing the most important time in every human person's life.'' MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The New York Times and The

Associated Press. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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