The biological development of the brain shows that children’s brains are much more malleable and open to change earlier on in life. This phenomenon of brain plasticity makes children able to adapt to the challenges of the environment they grow up in, and is also the concept behind the well-known expression that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". But most importantly, it also means that children’s mental well-being is much easier to place on a successful path earlier rather than later in life. Child psychiatrist Nikita Bezborodovs explores the effects of early childhood adversity and dives into the most important factor in early child psychological development to determine the child’s success and well-being in life. Ņikita is a child psychiatrist, working in the Children's Clinical University Hospital in Riga. He has served as acting director of the largest child psychiatry clinic in Latvia since 2016. He is particularly interested in the diagnosis, rehabilitation and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) etc.) in children, adolescents and adults, as well as early recognition and intervention for various mental disorders of childhood and adolescence. He not only practices child psychiatry but also teaches in the Rīga Stradiņš University Department of Psychiatry and Narcology and is a member of the board of the Latvian Psychiatric Association. Ņikita is engaged in research in the field of public mental health, is published in international journals, and is one of the co-authors of Latvia’s clinical guidelines in the field of psychiatry. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx