An infant is born with an intact brain and this 4 lb. structure continues to change throughout life. The first years are an amazing process of overgrowth, building millions of neural connections necessary for navigating and enjoying the world. The infant evolves from a creature with a highly active brain with limited capabilities to a walking, talking person in the first few years, all made possible by brain development.
Brain before Birth
The neural tube, which will develop into the brain and spine, develops in the first four weeks after conception. In the following months the brain will create trillions of synapses (connections) on the neurons (brain nerve cells), more than any adult by more than a factor of two. Before a baby is born it can respond to the voices of its parents and other stimulation. The fetal brain is functioning from early in its development and continues to grow and change throughout the life of the person.
The First Amazing Year
At birth the baby has 100 billion neurons, just waiting for stimulation to connect them to one another. The brain has all the morphological pieces, but it may appear smoother than an adult's brain. Infants are born able to see, but they can only focus about as far as the mother's face when being held. At birth, they are already beginning the process of recognizing speech. Their brains are beginning to specialize by the end of the first year, with the visual and speech capacities in different areas of the brain. They are enthusiastic learners and their brains are maximally malleable in the first year.
Toddler Brain
As the brain grows the neurons do not multiply, but they get bigger and stronger. A toddler's vision is improving, but she will not have the visual acuity of adults until about 6 years old. She is improving coordination and learning to talk. This is a critical period for many things, including speech recognition, which, if it doesn't happen in this period, may not be able to happen at all. All this occurs because of creating connections between neurons. By the third year a toddler will have 1,000 trillion connections in the brain, more than any adult. Eventually the number of connections will be "pruned," leaving only the significant connections.
Learning and the Brain
A person learns when one neuron connects to another, or many. One neuron may have as many as 15,000 connections. Intelligence may be considered the ability to see associations. When a child learns, he connects the image of an apple with the taste of an apple, and at a more complex level associates the concept of a certain political system with freedom (or repression). A responsive environment is essential to learning. A child cannot learn if not allowed to interact with the environment, or if the environment is too chaotic to be responsive.
Encouraging Brain Development
In utero the fetus brain can be affected by chemicals, oxygen level, viruses and other things. Proper nutrition and good health in the mother before birth is essential. After the baby is born, in addition to healthy food and a healthy environment, an infant needs quality stimulation for the brain to develop. Immediately, bonding with the mother is crucial to development. A primary caretaker spending lots of "face time" holding and talking to the baby is the best thing to stimulate brain development. For some reason, speaking "baby talk" helps the child develop. As the infant grows, what is needed is a stable, healthy environment with a lot of exposure to caring, responsive people, colorful environments, music and speech, and gentle touch. Toward the end of toddler-hood, formal education can begin, directing the child's focus to names, shapes, colors, numbers and systems.
