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The Developing Human Brain: Differences from Adult Brain

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MR Spectroscopy of Pediatric Brain Disorders

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Abstract

Human brain development is innately beautiful and bewildering in its complexity. To assemble its integrated parts and circuits all neurons must move from their ventricular wall origin to other locations, sometimes over considerable distances, or complicated trajectories. Once appropriately deployed, the neurons usually extend one long process (if they have not done so during migration), sometimes over great lengths, and other shorter processes usually nearby the cell. Activation of gene sets in different combinations and sequences of at least one half of our entire human genome of 20–30,000 genes is devoted to producing this most complex organ that will constitute only 2 % of our body weight. For the 9 months of intrauterine life and for a short but indeterminate postnatal period, brain growth and development is largely genetically determined. However, environmental factors begin taking a role shortly after conception and become increasingly important with advancing development.

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  1. Neuropathology Section, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Floyd H. Gilles M.D.

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  1. Floyd H. Gilles M.D.
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Correspondence to Floyd H. Gilles M.D. .

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  1. Keck School of Medicine, Dept. Radiology, University of Southern California, Zonal Avenue 1975, Los Angeles, 90089-9034, California, USA

    Stefan Blüml

  2. , Dept. of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburg of UPMC, Penn Avenue 4401, Pittsburgh, 15224, Pennsylvania, USA

    Ashok Panigrahy

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Gilles, F.H. (2013). The Developing Human Brain: Differences from Adult Brain. In: Blüml, S., Panigrahy, A. (eds) MR Spectroscopy of Pediatric Brain Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5864-8_1

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