Do newborns have a standardized brain structure?

Question

To be more exact I was just wondering that when a child is born does their brain have distinct differences in its neural network structures when compared to other newborns&mdash;assuming they grow up to be neurotypical people, so not accounting for any genetic predisposition to developing mental illness.What I really want to know though is when the brain starts responding to its environment and begins evolving as a result of the input it receives from various senses, does it do so from basis that&rsquo;s shared with all other newborns or is every person truly unique at birth.

tlb · Accepted Answer

The infant brain has been developing based on feedback from the body for months in-utero. They brain is getting sensory inputs from the fetus's movement as well as external sounds, so it's definitely not a pure function of its genes.Maternal stress, which the fetus can sense through hormones that cross the placental barrier, is also known to affect development before birth.

gregjor · Answer

Every person differs in many ways from every other person. Newborns don&rsquo;t share &ldquo;standardized&rdquo; facial features, fingerprints, circulatory systems, etc. Brains certainly differ greatly across individuals.Babies respond to &ldquo;inputs&rdquo; in the womb. The environmental factors that affect brain development (not &ldquo;evolution&rdquo;) include maternal hormones, nutrition, drugs and alcohol, even sounds.

mindcrime · Answer

Depends on what level of granularity you're asking about. Does every (neurotypical) newborn have a brain with left and right hemispheres? Yes, of course. Does every (neurotypical) newborn have exactly identical neural wiring right down to the last synapse? Almost certainly not.The extent to which the wiring is identical, and how much of our intelligence and ability to learn comes "hard wired" is one of the Big Open Questions in neuroscience / cognitive science.

fuzzfactor · Answer

>Do newborns have a standardized brain structure?No.Genetic diversity due to isolation of cultures in their environments over the eons has made this impossible.

inphovore · Answer

Nature vs nurture, an age old topic of conjecture.
The obvious (and prevailing) perspective is both.
Intellectual and psychological traits have some genetic predisposition, yet we should never discount the general adaptability of all minds.
Want science proofs? Consider how twins who grow up apart are strikingly similar, and consider how these examples might diverge from your own (random) characteristics.

croo · Answer

Unique. It shows in learning, memorizing, skills, toy preferences... The wiring of the default neuron network and inner workings are (at leas partly) inherited.

kleer001 · Answer

> ... when the brain starts responding to its environment and begins evolving as a result of the input it receives from various sensesIn the womb.Why do you ask?

Do newborns have a standardized brain structure?

>Do newborns have a standardized brain structure?
No.
Genetic diversity due to isolation of cultures in their environments over the eons has made this impossible.

Unique. It shows in learning, memorizing, skills, toy preferences... The wiring of the default neuron network and inner workings are (at leas partly) inherited.

> ... when the brain starts responding to its environment and begins evolving as a result of the input it receives from various senses
In the womb.
Why do you ask?