10 amazing facts about brain development

Neurons develop at a rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.

A stimulating environment for a child can make the difference between a 25% greater ability to learn or 25% less in an environment with little stimulation.

The first sense to develop while in utero is the sense of touch. The lips and cheeks can experience touch at about 8 weeks and the rest of the body around 12 weeks.

Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and, as adults, have a much denser gray matter.

Music lessons have shown to considerably boost brain organization and ability in both children and adults.

Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.

The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, shyness are already developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how these emotions are developed.

Studies have shown that child abuse can inhibit development of the brain and can permanently affect brain development.

A study showed that children with imaginary playmates between the ages of 3 and 9 tended to be first-born children.

At birth, your brain was almost the same size as an adult brain and contained most of the brain cells for your whole life.  

Another 10 interesting facts about our brain

The weight of the human brain is about 1.3-1.4 kg.

Your brain uses 20% of the total oxygen in your body.

The next time you get a fever, keep in mind that thehighest human body temperature ever recorded was 46.5 C –and the man survived.

It is thought that a yawn works to send more oxygen to the brain, therefore working to cool it down and wake it up.

Your brain is 60% white matter and 40% gray matter.

Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.

Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.

Memory is formed by associations, so if you want help remembering things, create associations for yourself.

A newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first year.

Excessive stress has shown to alter brain cells, brain structure and brain function.