How’s your brain’s air traffic controller doing? Directing too many close calls? Or managing without breaking a sweat? This video, part of the InBrief series from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, explains how this air traffic controller — known to brain and development experts as “executive functioning” — emerges and thrives. And what can get in the way of its healthy growth.

Acquiring the early building blocks of these skills

is one of the most important and challenging tasks of the early childhood years, and having the right support and experiences through middle childhood, adolescence, and into early adult life is essential for the successful development of these capacities.

Others in the InBrief series include “The Foundations of Lifelong Health”, “The Science of Early Childhood Development”, “The Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s Development”, and “Early Childhood Program Effectiveness”. Except for the last brief, all have short videos that explain the concepts. All have PDFs that you can download.