Child Brain Development

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The way the brain develops during a child’s early stages in life is crucial in determining the overall structure and behavior for that child when they become adults. Despite what some may think, brain development actually begins well before birth; it begins right after conception. A fetus’s brain begins forming during the fifth week of pregnancy, just 3 weeks after conception, and in the 7th week of pregnancy, the brain and face are rapidly developing (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). During this time period, the fetus’s brain will fold in to 5 different sections and also begin housing neurons. From this point on until around the 27th week, the brain is beginning to help all other areas of the body begin to function. By week 27, the nervous system is advanced enough to control some of its own body functions (Medline Plus, 2013). By the time the baby is actually born, “they already have almost all of the neurons they will ever have in their adult life” (Urban Child Institute, 2015). Once a baby is born, it is critical that the parents or caregivers are properly feeding, nurturing and letting the baby get enough sleep, since these play vital roles in the newborn’s brain development. Inadequate amounts in any of these areas could result in slower cognitive development, and even brain…show more content…
As the child gets older, the amount of synapses in their brains, continue to increase at a rapid pace. Synapses are the connections of neurons where messages are sent and received (Urban Child Institute, 2015). With the increase in synapses, the infant is able to send and receive more messages, thus they are able to process more things at once. The infant is also beginning to develop more advances in sensorimotor skills, which attributes to the tripling in size of the cerebrum during the first year (Urban Child Institute,

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