Brain Development - Research Paper Example

Brain functions through activity of neural circuits. These circuits are formed from the fetal period and throughout the life by forming synapses in a process called synaptogenesis. The necessary neutrons that a brain will have until death are almost present in a new born baby's brain. During the development stage 250,000 neutrons are added per minute. The brain grows after birth by increasing the size of the neurons and consequent increase in number of supporting cells. The weight of the brain of the newborn is approximately 300 grams.

Brain weight increases with age and achieve mature weight between six and fourteen years of life. The baby's brain moulds itself in response to the demands of the surroundings. The child's brain is an amazing learning engine. A child learns to do everything step by step in his growing stage. Children acquire language in a fast pace. It is found out that a baby reacts to language with his complete brain until he is one year old. Brain imaging studies suggest that the brain continues to develop through adolescence and into young adulthood.

During adolescence, the parts of the brain that are liable for expressing emotions and for seeking enjoyment tend to mature sooner than the regions of the brain that control impulses, reasoning and decision making. The adult brain is related mostly to the human intellect. The modern science admits that emotions are fundamental to the general mental health. Recent studies show that brain produces new neurons even at the age of seventies. The normal aging process leaves most mental functions unharmed, and even provide the brain with unique advantages that form the root of wisdom The 'Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus', written in the 17th century BC, has the earliest recorded reference to the brain.

Hippocrates believed the brain to be the seat of intelligence. Studies of the brain became more sophisticated after the invention of the microscope. In the late 1890s Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Camillo Golgi suggested the neuron doctrine, which established that the functional unit of the brain is the neuron. Related studies by Paul Broca suggested that certain regions of the brain were responsible for certain functions. Modern researches are ongoing to show that distinct areas of the cortex are activated in the execution of specific tasks.

The advance in neuroscience in the last 10 years is ahead of that has made ever since the studies of brain began. let us try to brief the current trends in the studies of brain. A child gets adapted to the environment at his birth, due to the presence of abundance of the neural circuit in his brain. Healthy brain cells will die if they don't have to perform during the critical periods of a child's developmental years. Each element of a picture which we see is sent to different parts of the brain for processing.

The human brain's capacity is best standardized by the number of connections that develop among its billions of brain cells. Different neurological and behavioral differences come out in the early developmental stages and continue throughout a lifetime. Neuro-biological differences mostly causes many of the gender-specific patterns in learning and behavior. Immobility is unable to get along with complex learning experiences. Continual stress and fear can lead to the physical destruction of neurons in the hippocampus, a sub-cortical structure that plays an important role