Chapter 3 Flashcards
2 year olds are ______ their adult height and are _______ their adult weight (4x their birthweight)
1/2 ; 1/5
Norm
An average, or standard, measurement, calculated from the measurements of many individuals within a specific group or population
In terms of percentiles, what is “average”?
50th percentile
Head-Sparing
A biological mechanism that protects the brain when malnutrition disrupts body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition.
Brain circumference increases from _____ inches to _____ inches (doubling brain volume) from birth to the age of 2
14 ; 19
Central Nervous System (CNS)
The brain and spinal cord
Neuron
One of billions of nerve cells in the CNS, especially in the brain. 100 billion neurons exist at birth, 70% of which exist in the cortex at birth.
Cortex
The outer layers of the brain in humans and other mammals. Most thinking, feeling, and sensing involve the cortex.
Prefrontal Cortex
The area of the cortex at the very front of the brain that specializes in anticipation, planning, and impulse control. It’s the final part of the brain to mature.
Auditory Cortex
Part of the cortex that specializes in heading.
Visual Cortex
Part of the cortex that specializes in vision.
Axon
A fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrochemical impulses from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons.
Dendrite
A fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrochemical impulses transmitted from other neurons via their axons.
Synapses
The intersection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of other neurons
Neurotransmitter
A brain chemical that carries information from the axon of a sending neuron to the dendrites of a receiving neuron.
Synaptic Gap
The pathway across which the neurotransmitters carry information form the axon of the sending neuron to the dendrites of the receiving neuron.
Dendrites increase by ___ times from birth to the age of two
5
How many synapses are present at age two?
~100 trillion, with 40,000 formed every second in infants
Transient Exuberance
The great but temporary increase in the number of dendrites that develop in an infant’s brain during the first 2 years of life
Pruning
When applied to brain development, the process by which unused connections in the brain atrophy and die.
Follows transient exuberance.
Makes room for more dendrite formation, which leads to synapses which then lead to more complex thinking
Fusiform Face Area
Area of the brain adept at facial recognition
Own-Race Effect
Babies are more accurate at differentiating faces from their own ethnic group
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Life-threatening injury that occurs when an infant is forcefully shaken back and forth, a motion that ruptures blood vessels in the brain and breaks neural connections.
Self-Righting
The inborn drive to remedy a developmental deficit; literally, to return to sitting or standing upright after being tipped over. People of all ages have self-righting impulses, for emotional as well as physical imbalance.
Sleeping through the night is a sign of what?
Brain maturation
How many hours of sleep should a 0-2 month old get every day?
14 1/4 hours