Brain+Growth

**Brain Growth **
At birth, the brain already has 100,000,000,000 cells, but the brain is not fully developed yet. As a baby starts to experience life, connections are made between cells, and the more connections there are, the more the brain can do. At age 2, the child has the same number of connections in the brain as adults. The child has twice as many connections as an adult at age 3. From when you are born to the age of six, 75% of the brain growth is complete. Although we do keep growing our brain throughout our lifetime. Recently it was discovered that the brain grows in your sleep. Mostly during the sixth through eighth hour of sleep. So this is why it is important to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night! Blood flow is also an important effect in brain growth. Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to the brain cells. An easy way to increase blood flow to the brain is through aerobic exercise such as bicycling and jogging. A University of Illinois study found that people who walked briskly for 45 minutes three times a week improved their cognitive speed by 15 percent.

Milestones in Brain Growth :

Birth: You are born with 100,000,000,000 cells.

4 Months: the babies brain responds to every sound produced

8-9 Months: They can form specific memories from their experiences. ex: how to roll a ball and make it move.

10 Months: Now babies can distinguish and even produce the sounds of their own language. ex: da-da ma-ma ga-ga

12-18 Months: They can keep in memory something that has been hidden and and find it again. They also hold memory sequences of simple activities. ex: Winding a Jack-in-the-Box to see Jack come out

24 Months: They remember clear pictures of the people they love and are upset when they are separated from them.

30 Months: They can remember where things are in their environment and know a spacial map.

36 Months: The child can now hold 2 different emotions in their mind at the same time.