Features

Child Development: Your Guide to the First Five Years part 2 - The beautiful brain

The experiences young children have with their carers can shape the development of their brains and influence the sort of people they become, says Maria Robinson.

The use of the word 'beautiful' to describe this structure inside our heads may seem a little strange, but I believe that the brain is indeed beautiful. In Nature magazine (1 November 2007, pp56-61), there is a section describing how researchers in America have genetically labelled neurons with different colours so that they can actually track the different interactions in one small area of the mouse brain.

Comparisons with fairy lights, a city at night or a firework display cannot do justice to the sheer complexity and wonder of the workings of the brain. Just in case you are wondering, the brain of a mouse shares a great deal with our brains, as does that of a primate, a dog, a dolphin - even a reptile.

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