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.
General Brain Development
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Does experience change the actual structure of the brain?
Yes. Brain development is "activity-dependent," meaning that the electrical activity in every circuit—sensory, motor, emotional, cognitive—shapes the way that circuit gets put together.
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What is a "critical period" in brain development?
Pruning or selection of active neural circuits takes place throughout life, but is far more common in early childhood.
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Why does the developing brain undergo these critical periods in its development?
Neuroscientists do not yet fully understand the biological basis of these critical periods.
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Are there critical periods in the development of every brain function?
Probably not. In the case of visual development, certain abilities are more at-risk than others when a young child's vision is impaired by eye-crossing or other visual problems (such as congenital ca…
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How does nutrition affect the developing brain?
Brain development is most sensitive to a baby's nutrition between mid-gestation and two years of age.
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Which plays a more important role in brain development, nature (genes) or nurture (environment)?
Genes and environment interact at every step of brain development, but they play very different roles.
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When is the brain fully developed?
In some ways, never. Our brains are continually re-shaping themselves to meet the demands of everyday life, even throughout adulthood.
Prenatal Development
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When does the fetus's brain begin to work?
Generally speaking, the central nervous system (which is composed of the brain and the spinal cord) matures in a sequence from "tail" to head.
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When does brain development begin?
Brain development begins with the formation and closure of the neural tube, the earliest nervous tissue that looks like a fat earthworm stretched out along the entire back of the embryo.
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What are the most important influences on brain development before birth?
Many factors can influence fetal brain development, but most healthy pregnant women do not need to radically alter their lifestyles in order to promote optimal brain development.
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What are neural tube defects (NTDs)?
One of the most sensitive periods in brain development occurs at the very beginning, when the neural tube is closing.
Postnatal Development
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How developed is the brain by birth?
Although it has already undergone an amazing amount of development, the brain of a newborn baby is still very much a work-in-progress.
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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 development of boys' and girls' brains?
Yes, but they are subtle, and a product of both nature and nurture.
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What role do parents play in a baby's brain development?
Parents are another important part of the developmental equation. Infants prefer human stimuli—your face, voice, touch, and even smell—over everything else.