The Infant Brain: Mcleod Cognitive Development

The Infant brain begins to develop a few weeks after conception, and most of the definable structures begin to develop at about eight weeks after conception. The first synapses occur seven weeks into the pregnancy within the spinal cord. Synapses occurs when neurons pass signals between each other to relay and receive information. A neuron consists of a cell body, multiple dendrites, and an axon. The cell body serves as the command center for the neuron, it contains DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and produces the energy used by the cell. The dendrites are the receptors of the neuron, and receive signals sent from other neurons. The axon, a long spine like process, consists of multiple axon terminals; the site of connection to other neurons. During
According to Piaget, “newborns interact with their environment entirely through reflexive behavior,” allowing children gather environmental information through their senses. Additionally, as this process is enacted, the child begins to develop “goal driven behavior”(Infancy and cognitive development). For an example of “goal driven behavior” consider an infant crying when its diaper is dirty, the baby is uncomforatabel and cries for the purpose of getting the parent to change it. This is consistent with the idea of over developing synapses within the first three years. While the infant grows it is rapidly developing connections for all the sensory experiences it has, retaining the links which receive a higher exposure level. This is the aforementioned “fine tuning” process; interaction with the environment to gather sensory experience. This is the reason for the rapid increase in synapses, the young brain uses these to develop critical behavioral trends. Therefore, the more a child experiences a stimuli the better they develop a connection and a memory. Subsequently, this is the time the infant gains object permanence, the ability to understand that an object still exists despite it not being within sight (Infancy and cognitive development). It is easy to see that this coincides with the development of synapses in relation to a certain stimuli; the developed synapses allow the infant's mind to register patterns and trends in its environment. If a child is not exposed to something, they will not develop a synapses for it. To clarify, means that a child's early experiences play an imperative role in latter development; it is these events that will shape the cognitive and behavioral patterns in adolescence and adulthood. Negative emotions and events poses a greater impact at this stage