Early brain development

The brain stem

• The part of the brain that connects to the spinal cord.

• the brain stem carries motor and sensory signals from the brain to the rest of the body and from the body to the brain through the spinal cord.

• The brain stem also controls a few autonomic functions, such as breathing and your heartbeat and your stomach digesting things.

  • The brain stem is the most highly developed part of the brain at birth, while the rest of it continues developing over time.

The cerebellum

• meaning ‘little brain’.

• located near the top of the spinal cord.

• has an important role in balance and coordination of movement, and also coordinates sensorimotor feedback.

• It also has some feedback with emotions and language.

  • The cerebellum is one of the last parts of the brain to finish developing.

The thalamus

• there are two, located deep inside the brain- one in each hemisphere.

• acts as a hub of information- sending and receiving info from other parts of the brain.

• for example, it receives info from the retina in the eye, which gets transferred to the visual area of the brain.

The cortex

• also called the cerebral cortex.

• it is divided into two halves (hemispheres)

• the cerebral cortex is only 3mm thick, covers the outside of the brain almost completely and is only found in the brains of mammals.

• All our thinking and mental processing goes on in this part of the brain.

  • the sensory and motor areas of the cortex function in the womb, but continues to develop throughout our lives.