Page 212 - The Truth Landscape Format 2020 with next section introductions-compressed

From the earliest evolution of a baby’s brain, it is adding sensory experiences to the hard drive of its mind.
Everything it senses, feels, hears, tastes, experiences will start filling up the storage cells with memories.

DID YOU KNOW? Touch is the first sense to develop. The developing foetus responds to touch of the lips
and cheeks by 8 weeks and to other parts of its body at 14 weeks. The sense of taste may develop by 12
weeks and that of sound at 22-24 weeks. (Reference: Hepper, P., "Unravelling our beginnings", The
Psychologist, 18:474-477, 2005.)

A child's brain is a magnificent engine for learning. A child learns to crawl, walk, run and explore. A child
learns to reason, pay attention, to remember, but nowhere is learning more dramatic than in the way a child
learns language. As children, we acquire language -- the hallmark of being human. Every one of these
experiences and memories fill boxes in the storage cells of the mind.

In nearly all adults, the language centre of the brain resides in the left hemisphere, but in children the brain is
less specialized. Until babies become about a year old, they respond to language with their entire brains, but
then, gradually, language shifts to the left hemisphere, driven by the acquisition of language itself.

When examining the adolescent brain we find mystery, complexity, frustration, and inspiration. As the brain
begins teeming with hormones, the prefrontal cortex, the centre of reasoning and impulse control, is still a
work in progress. For the first time, scientists can offer an explanation for what parents already know -
adolescence is a time of churning emotions, and poor judgment. Why do teenagers have distinct needs and
behaviours? Why, for example, do school students have such a hard time waking up in the morning? Scientists have just begun to answer questions about the
purpose of sleep as it relates to the sleep patterns of teenagers.

The latest discoveries in neuroscience present a new view of how the brain ages. Overturning decades of dogma, scientists recently discovered that even into
our seventies, our brains continue producing new neurons. Scientists no longer hold the longstanding belief that we lose vast numbers of brain cells as we
grow older. The normal aging process leaves most mental functions intact and may even provide the brain with unique advantages that form the basis for
wisdom. The aging brain is also far more resilient than was previously believed.

Can the brain run out of storage space?

As the storage cells of our mind fill up, it is not uncommon to experience mental overwhelm until sleep and rest perform the miracle of defragmentation. This
explains how confusion becomes clarity as our brains sort and resort the experiences and memories we collect. The good news is that there seems to be no
limit to the knowledge that can fit into a brain. As far as scientists have discovered, no one has ever run out of storage space. However, whilst brain cells do Page212
not whither, cognitive skills slow down when a brain is so full that it takes longer to recall and sift through, like an overused computer hard drive.