Brain Maturation in Infants Explicatory Essay

The brain of an infant undergoes various changes after birth. In particular, one can mention that at the beginning, it weighs approximately 400 grams; however, it can grow by more than 200 percent within the next 12 months (Ashford, 2012, p. 80). At this stage, the connections between neurons are very weak, and they are not sufficient for complex cognitive activities.Brain Maturation in Infants Explicatory Essay

This is why during infancy a newborn baby can only rely on inherited reflexes such as sucking or grasping (Ashford, 2012, p. 80). At this stage, only brain stem, spinal cord and diencephalon are well-developed while upper part of the brain only begins to grow. For instance, one can speak about such a region of the brain as cerebellum which is involved in such mental processes as attention or language.

The capacity to process language is associated with the development of the cerebral cortex (Huttenlocher, 2009, p. 175).There has be to be a sufficient number of synaptic contacts so that an infant could start to acquire linguistic skills (Huttenlocher, 2009, p. 175). Overall, the linguistic growth starts during the period between 12 and 24 months.

It should be mentioned that the exposure to language is crucial for the linguistic growth of a child. If an infant cannot hear human language during this period, his/her linguistic capacity can be impaired. One should take into account that the relationship between brain maturation and linguistic growth still attracts the attention of many researchers. These are the main aspect that be identified.Brain Maturation in Infants Explicatory Essay

One should also examine how a newborn baby perceives the world. At first, it is necessary to focus on the sensations of newborn children. They have to adjust to breathing and nutrition without the umbilical cord. One should bear in mind that their vision is not very strong.