How brain 'wiring' develops in babies

How brain 'wiring' develops in babies
January 13, 2011

Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) have shown, for the first time, how our brain 'wiring' develops in the first few months of life. Using a new imaging technique, the scientists monitored the formation of insulating layers around nerve cells, a process called myelination, which is vital for normal brain function. Damage to the myelination process is believed to contribute to a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including autism and intellectual disability.

The MRC-funded scientists based in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, scanned 14 healthy babies born at full term. The babies were scanned while asleep using a specially-modified, quiet, baby-friendly MRI scanner. To build up a picture of their myelin development, the researchers scanned the infants monthly between 3 and 11 months. By the age of nine months, myelination was visible in all brain areas and in some regions had developed to a near adult-like level.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-brain-wiring-babies.html