Download Basic Brain Facts - The Practice of Parenting

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Basic facts about the human brain
• The human brain is about the size of a coconut, the shape of a walnut, and
the consistency of a ripe peach.
• Humans are one of the only animals in nature born without a fully
developed brain. 75% of our brain develops after birth. 90% of our brain
develops before the age of 10. However, crucial processes that sculpt our
brains occur in the teenage years and throughout our 20’s.
• Human brain growth occurs from bottom up - with the most primitive
functions first and the most advanced reasoning and decision making
abilities last.
• When we talk about brain growth, we are mainly talking about growing
connections between neurons. Connections between neurons are made
through electrical and chemical signals.
• Strong connections between neurons are made when we do things again
and again, and when we have big feelings while we experience something.
• Our brains are shaped by our biology (genes), our environment, and our
experiences.
• The way we are with each other, our repetitive interactions, and our
thoughts shape our brains. In every moment, we are all brain sculptors.
• The human brain can grow, change, and heal throughout all of our life, but
is most capable of and susceptible to change in the early years.
• A baby is born with 100 billion neurons in it’s brain. That is as many as
there are stars in the sky, and like the stars, the neurons are not yet
connected.
• By the age of three, we have 1,000 trillion (a quadrillion) connections
between neurons.
• By the age of three, the connections that are the weakest start to get
pruned. This allows the brain to operate more efficiently. The strongest
connections, those associated with emotion and repetition, remain.
• Myelin is a slippery substance that covers our neural pathways to help
them connect more quickly. A well used path becomes myelinated for
brain efficiency.
• In our teen years our brains go through a big remodel - there is a massive
pruning process, new grey matter is grown in the thinking part of our
brains, myelin sheaths cover the neural pathways in our lower and middle
brains. However, the “upstairs brain” is not yet complete and is not yet
maturely myelinated until our late 20’s.
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TAYLOR ROSS | THE PRACTICE OF PARENTING
Functions of the brain
Built from the bottom up
Alarm Center
Brain Stem, cerebellum, reptilian brain, hindbrain, etc...
• Fight, Flight, Freeze, Collapse
• What functions at birth?
• Body regulation (heartbeat, digestion, reflexes, etc...)
• Primarily lit up at 0-1 years
Emotional Center
Mid-brain, Limbic system, hippocampus, amygdala, etc...
• Generate emotion
• Feelings, feelings, feelings
• Relationships
• Imagination
• Memory
• Sense of self
• Build bridges to upstairs brain
• Primarily lit up 1-6
• “Name it to tame it” recognizing feelings when they arise - ex “There is a
feeling of frustration”, as apposed to I am my frustration.
Decision-making Center
Forebrain, upstairs brain, cortex, etc...
• Last to develop in primates
• Gives us the ability to:
• Pause before acting, impulse control
• Reason, decision making, weighting consequences
• Self soothing fibers
• Empathy and compassion
• Morality
• Connection to a larger whole
• Coach for whole brain, regulates sub cortical brain
• Spurts in development - big in adolescence
• Supported development through mindfulness
Adapted from original material by ECHO Parenting & Education
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TAYLOR ROSS | THE PRACTICE OF PARENTING
Decision-making
Center
Emotional Center
Alarm
Center
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling,
but in rising every time we fall.”
Confucious
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