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How does nutrition affect the developing brain?
The brain is most affected by nutrition between mid-gestation and two years of age. Read more on how nutrition affects the developing brain.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Brain Development
Explore how the human brain grows from before birth to adulthood, and how the earliest experiences in the first three years of life can dramatically shape and support brain development into adulthood.
The human brain begins forming very early in prenatal life (just three weeks after conception), but in many ways, brain development is a lifelong project. That is because the same events that shape the brain during development are also responsible for storing information—new skills and memories—throughout life. The major difference between brain development in a child versus an adult is a matter of degree: the brain is far more impressionable (neuroscientists use the term plastic) in early life than in maturity. This plasticity has both a positive and a negative side. On the positive side, it means that young children’s brains are more open to learning and enriching influences. On the negative side, it also means that young children’s brains are more vulnerable to developmental problems should their environment prove especially impoverished or un-nurturing.
Explore the questions below to learn more about brain development.
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Does experience change the actual structure of the brain?
Brain development is "activity-dependent" meaning experience can change the actual structure of the brain.
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Good Question
When is the brain fully developed?
In some ways, our brains are never fully developed. They are continually re-shaping to meet the demands of everyday life, even as adults.
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Prenatal Development
What are the most important influences on brain development before birth?
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When Does the Fetus’s Brain Begin to Work?
The central nervous system (which is composed of the brain and the spinal cord) matures in a sequence from "tail" to head. Learn more about fetal brain activity.
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When does brain development begin?
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What are neural tube defects (NTDs)?
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Postnatal Development
What are the most important changes in the brain after birth?
While babies come into the world with some very useful survival reflexes, they are still strikingly helpless, in large part because the cerebral cortex is still quite immature.
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Are there any differences in the brain development of boys’ and girls’?
Yes, but they are subtle, and a product of both nature and nurture. Learn more about brain development below.
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What role do parents play in a baby’s brain development?
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How developed is the brain by birth?
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