View Full Version : How different are "newborn" brains?


DarkMadMax
10-13-03, 10:20 PM
AFAIK brain structures are not coded in DNA - only some very basical stuff is . The entire machine of human thoughts is built in the process of learning ( by exposure to various sensoric information) . (innately blind/deaf ppl lack some special structures responsible for image/hearing processing , children raised by animals are practically animals and cannot even learn human language if most of their infancy and childhood was without human environment) .

But nevertheless humans are very different in their intelectual capacity . There are clear parental influences on people intellectual capabilties.

So my question is if any study regarded that matter was made - the comparision for example of twins brains separated at birth , comparison of their prebirth mri images at early stages of development with later stages . Then comparing normally raised offspring with sensory deprivated one. Any web link about those ?

river-wind
10-14-03, 10:17 AM
this is a hot topic these days. It seems more and more that genetics determines how likely to are to be able to do something; the environment in which you are raised determines what you actually end up doing.

There are numerous studies that can be found at www.dogpile.com (the other kick ass search engine)

I did a quick search on "Infant brain structure":
http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/web/infant%252Bbrain%252Bstructure

spuriousmonkey
10-16-03, 08:22 AM
The brain structure might not be entirely coded in the DNA (nothing is btw). The connections within the brain are formed mainly by means of selection of good connections and removing neurons that failed to make good connections. The mechanisms behind the selection however seem to be hardwired into the genome.