Brain Development from Birth to Adulthood
Journey of the brain-Birth to late adulthood
Child development is crucial throughout the early years, during this time the development of the brain occurs and continues through late adulthood. The development of the brain contributes to the functioning of the body. The anatomy of the brain is made up of neurons and divided into four different lobes. The temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes control a variety of cognitive functions (Santrock, 2013). The brain controls simple functions such as fine and gross motor skills, vision, and memory. For instance the frontal lobes are involved in the voluntary movement, thinking, personality, and intentionality or purpose. The occipital lobes are responsible for vision. The temporal lobes are responsible for hearing, language processing and memory. The parietal lobes plays role in registering spatial location, attention and motor control. (Santrock, 2013). Brain development in children is vital during the early years. During the early years, children brains are active enabling children to learn a variety of information. However, as individual ages there are changes in the brain which influence cognitive functioning learned throughout the years of development.
At birth the newborn’s brain is about 25 percent of its adult weight; by the 24 months the brain is about 75 percent of its adult weight (Santrock, 2013). The brain is very delicate and needs a lot of protection for its safety. The cranium provides adequate amount of safety to the brain with its durable, compact design. (Santrock, 2013). However, with infants the brain is developing rapidly, and extra precaution measures should be taken into consideration by the care taker to avoid any injuries. For example, if the infants head is shaken too much they could develop shaken baby syndrome- swelling of the brain and hemorrhaging. According to a study fathers were frequent perpetrators of the shaken baby syndrome
Child development is crucial throughout the early years, during this time the development of the brain occurs and continues through late adulthood. The development of the brain contributes to the functioning of the body. The anatomy of the brain is made up of neurons and divided into four different lobes. The temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes control a variety of cognitive functions (Santrock, 2013). The brain controls simple functions such as fine and gross motor skills, vision, and memory. For instance the frontal lobes are involved in the voluntary movement, thinking, personality, and intentionality or purpose. The occipital lobes are responsible for vision. The temporal lobes are responsible for hearing, language processing and memory. The parietal lobes plays role in registering spatial location, attention and motor control. (Santrock, 2013). Brain development in children is vital during the early years. During the early years, children brains are active enabling children to learn a variety of information. However, as individual ages there are changes in the brain which influence cognitive functioning learned throughout the years of development.
At birth the newborn’s brain is about 25 percent of its adult weight; by the 24 months the brain is about 75 percent of its adult weight (Santrock, 2013). The brain is very delicate and needs a lot of protection for its safety. The cranium provides adequate amount of safety to the brain with its durable, compact design. (Santrock, 2013). However, with infants the brain is developing rapidly, and extra precaution measures should be taken into consideration by the care taker to avoid any injuries. For example, if the infants head is shaken too much they could develop shaken baby syndrome- swelling of the brain and hemorrhaging. According to a study fathers were frequent perpetrators of the shaken baby syndrome
References: Santrock, J. W. (2013). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. Dallas: McGraw-Hill.