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Single Idea 4904

[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 8. Brain ]

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.

The 19 ideas from 'Mapping the Mind'

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]
4903 Scans of brains doing similar tasks produce very similar patterns of activation [Carter,R]
4906 Babies show highly emotional brain events, but may well be unaware of them [Carter,R]
4905 Normal babies seem to have overlapping sense experiences [Carter,R]
4907 The 'locus coeruleus' is one of several candidates for the brain's 'pleasure centre' [Carter,R]
4908 No one knows if animals are conscious [Carter,R]
4909 The only way we can control our emotions is by manipulating the outside world that influences them [Carter,R]
4910 Sense organs don't discriminate; they reduce various inputs to the same electrical pulses [Carter,R]
4911 The recognition sequence is: classify, name, locate, associate, feel [Carter,R, by PG]
4912 Out-of-body experiences may be due to temporary loss of proprioception [Carter,R]
4913 Brain lesions can erase whole categories of perception, suggesting they are hard-wired [Carter,R]
4914 A frog will starve to death surrounded by dead flies [Carter,R]
4915 In primates, brain size correlates closely with size of social group [Carter,R]
4916 There is enormous evidence that consciousness arises in the frontal lobes of the brain [Carter,R]
4917 Consciousness involves awareness, perception, self-awareness, attention and reflection [Carter,R]
4918 In blindsight V1 (normal vision) is inactive, but V5 (movement) lights up [Carter,R]
4919 There seems to be no dividing line between a memory and a thought [Carter,R]
4920 Thinking takes place on the upper side of the prefrontal cortex [Carter,R]