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Full Idea
The main sections of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, are visible within seven weeks of conception, and by the time the child is born the brain contains as many neurons - about 100 billion - as it will have as an adult.
Clarification
A 'neonate' is a new-born baby
Gist of Idea
Proper brains appear at seven weeks, and neonates have as many neurons as adults do
Source
Rita Carter (Mapping the Mind [1998], p. 17)
Book Ref
Carter,Rita: 'Mapping the Mind' [Phoenix 2000], p.17
A Reaction
Of interest in the abortion debate, and also in thinking about personal identity. However, it seems clear that the number of connections, rather than neurons, is what really matters. A small infant may well lack personal identity.
| 20914 | The directive centre is located in the whole head [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
| 13154 | Do we think and experience with blood, air or fire, or could it be our brain? [Plato] |
| 23218 | The brain has no responsibility for sensations, which occur in the heart [Aristotle] |
| 23219 | Stopping the heart doesn't terminate activity; pressing the brain does that [Galen, by Cobb] |
| 24027 | Nerves and movement originate in the brain, where imagination moves them [Descartes] |
| 7882 | Researching phenomenal consciousness is peculiar, because the concepts involved are peculiar [Papineau] |
| 2952 | A 1988 estimate gave the brain 3 x 10-to-the-14 synaptic junctions [Lockwood] |
| 4902 | Pain doesn't have one brain location, but is linked to attention and emotion [Carter,R] |
| 4904 | Proper brains appear at seven weeks, and neonates have as many neurons as adults do [Carter,R] |
| 4915 | In primates, brain size correlates closely with size of social group [Carter,R] |
| 4932 | A conscious state endures for about 100 milliseconds, known as the 'specious present' [Edelman/Tononi] |
| 23216 | The brain is not passive, and merely processing inputs; it is active, and intervenes in the world [Cobb] |
| 23226 | There is a single mouse neuron which has 862 inputs and 626 outputs [Cobb] |
| 23513 | Single neurons can carry out complex functions [Seth] |
| 23514 | The cerbellum has a huge number of neurons, but little involvement in consciousness [Seth] |