Through the chapter, the major ideas were the basic foundation of the brain, and how the different areas of the brain played specific roles in function. The brain isn’t just “left” or “right” sided, but uses various regions to complete even the most common tasks. Research has shown that kids have neurons functioning than adults, making more connections to the world. The brain activity of a 6 year old is actually higher than a 20 year old. Pruning begins to clear the information that the brain wasn’t using. Because of this, it leads to the development and the “plastic” of the brain. The “plasticicity” is how fast the brain can bounce back from a brain injury or surgery. A 3 year old would recover quicker with much better results than a 60 year old because of it.

A brain scientist would explain development of which myelination happens. With different experiences, the brain increases as the amount of knowledge increases. Childs have various neurons that specialize into specific functions or instructions. The more the person uses these neurons, the stronger the connection becomes. Development is more of how our brains are designed to take in information and store it, and learning comes from the experiences being put in.

The picture illustrates the various synaptic connections in the brain. These start developing before you are even born, and then with experience as a baby and toddler, your brain develops more connections with networks as shown in the picture at six year. If these connections are not revisited or used, such as a trip to the beach when you are four, the memory and connection may be pruned away. In the picture at 14 years, it shows how some of the connections have already been pruned away though some of the connections are stronger which is explained by repetition.