0 ratings0% found this document useful (0 votes) 14 views3 pagesBrain Development
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content,
claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
92/29, 8.48 PM Neuroscience For Kids - Brain Development
Neuroscience For Kids
Brain Development
‘he brain grows at an amazing rate during development, At times during brain
development, 250,000 neurons are added every minute! The brain continues to grow for a few years after
person is born. The brain reaches about 80% of its adult size when a person is about 2 years old
You may wonder, "How does the brain continue to grow, if the brain has most of the neurons it will get
when you are born?", The answer is in glial cells. Glia continues to divide and multiply. Glia carries out
many important functions for normal brain function including insulating nerve cells with myelin. The
neurons in the brain also make many new connections after birth.
The Brain During Development
The nervous system develops from embryonic tissue called the ectoderm, The first sign of the developing
nervous system is the neural plate that can be seen at about the 16th day of development. Over the next
few days, a "trench" is formed in the neural plate - this creates a neural groove. By the 21st day of
development, a neural tube is formed when the edges of the neural groove meet. The rostral (front) part
of the neural tubes goes on to develop into the brain and the rest of the neural tube develops into the spinal
cord, Neural crest cells become the peripheral nervous system.
Neural Crest
Neural Tube
Neural Groove
Neural Plate Ectoderm
At the front end of the neural tube, three major brain areas are formed: the prosencephalon (forebrain),
mesencepalon (midbrain) and rhombencephalon (hindbrain). By the 7th week of development, these three
areas divide again. This process is called encephalization.
hitps:faculty washington edulchucleridew html 18 9/12/29, 848 PM [Neuroscience Far Kids - Brain Development
3weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks
Tweeks 4 months
6 months & months’ Newborn
Average brain weights (BW)
AGE BW - Male (grans) BW - Fenale (grams)
Newborn 380 360
1 year 978 940
2 years 1,120 1,040
3 years 3,270 1,090
10-12 years 1,440 1,260
19-21 years 1,450 13310
56-60 years 1,370 1,250
81-85 years 1,310 1,170
(Data from Dekaban, A.S. and Sadowsky, D., Changes in brain weights during the span of human life:
relation of brain weights to body heights and body weights, Ann. Neurology, 4:345-356, 1978)
Brain Weight
hitps:faculty washington edulchucleridew html 28 ‘92/29, 8.48 PM Neuroscience For Kids - Brain Development
15
05
Brain Weight (4g)
rain WeightBody Weigh x 100
Age (years) The top graph on the left shows the brain weights
of males and females at different ages. The bottom graph shows the brain weight to total body weight ratio
(expressed as a percentage). The adult brain makes up about 2% of the total body weight.
(Data from Dekaban, A.S. and Sadowsky, D., Changes in brain weights during the span of human life:
relation of brain weights to body heights and body weights, Ann, Neurology, 4:345-356, 1978)
DID YOU KNOW? Touch is the first sense to develop. The developing fetus responds to touch of the lips
and cheeks by 8 weeks and to other parts of its body at 14 week. The sense of taste may develop by 12
weeks and that of sound at 22-24 weeks. (Reference: Hepper, P., "Unraveling our beginnings", The
Psychologist, 18:474-477, 2005.)
More about Brain Development
Secret Life of the Brain - a PBS special exploring the brain from birth to old age
Development and Neurobiology Column
The TEEN Brain - articles from US News and World Report (August 9, 1999).
Inside the Teenage Brain - PBS
Zero to Three
The brain during old age
Copyright © 1996-2015, Eric H. Chudler, University of Washington
hitps:faculty washington edulchucleridew html 38