Brain Growth Development – Stage by Stage

From conception and right through the first three years of life, the brain grows rapidly. From 3 to 6 years, growth continues but at a slower pace.

As brain size increases and its structure gets more complex, it demands energy and critical nutrients, for growth and development. Here's a primer on key growth phases of brain development.

0 – 6 Months

• A newborn's brain weighs 350g and is about 25% of its adult weight.
• Baby's brain has 100 billion neurons.
• With each passing day, as baby is exposed to enriching experiences, such as loving touch and interaction with parents, neurons build and strengthen connections to each other.

6 – 12 Months

• At the end of 12 months, the brain weighs 1.1kg.
• The cerebral cortex begins to make hundreds and thousands of synaptic connections rapidly. It is responsible for higher executive functions such as voluntary actions, thinking, remembering and feeling.
• At this time, baby achieves many developmental milestones, such as the first words, color vision, pincer grasp and attachment to parents.

24 – 36 Months

• By two years of age, a toddler's brain is about 80% of the adult weight.
• By age 3, the baby's brain has the greatest density of synapses. New connections are made and strengthened in the temporal and frontal lobes, brain areas involved in higher cognitive and emotional functions.
• By 6, the brain attains 95% of adult size. Gray matter in the cerebral cortex continues to thicken enabling complex thoughts like judgement, organization and planning.

References

1. From Zero to Three, www.zerotothree.org, cited 18 February 2010.
2. David Benton. The influence of children's diet on their cognition and behavior. Eur J Nutr (2008) 47[Suppl 3]:25–37.