The baby’s brain is one of the most fascinating mysteries in the world, which thanks to the various discoveries and advances in science we have learned little by little. We know, for example, that despite being so small, babies are already born with certain knowledge, and from an early age they are able to identify certain things, such as musical tones.
Now, a new study of the baby brain has found that newborns are born with organized brain networks , which help their mental development.
The study
Published in the journal NeuroImage , the study analyzed the brains of 267 newborn babies , most less than a week old, through magnetic resonance imaging, which was taken while they were put to sleep.
According to results found by Ohio University researchers, babies are born with five functional brain networks: visual, predetermined, sensorimotor, ventral attention, and high-level vision.
Previous studies have found that the adult brain is organized into seven brain networks , so there are two that are not present at birth: the control networks, which help us make plans in order to meet goals; and limbic networks, which are related to emotional regulation.
” Babies have little cognitive control and emotional regulation, so it is not surprising that these networks are not developed “, explains Professor Zeynep Saygin, one of the authors of the study. “ But one possibility would have been that they are set at birth and just need to be perfected. However, that is not what we found. Those networks do not yet exist and must be developed through experience .”
The researchers comment that it is planned to continue studying the brain of babies in relation to this topic, in order to better understand how these networks develop over time.
