April 21st

EQ: How does the infant brain structure work?

At the beginning of this week, I thought I’d challenge myself by putting together a puzzle I put together a couple years ago of the brain. When I first put the brain together, I followed this guide that sort of broke down every part and its properties in both a coherent and engaging way. Now that I’ve become more familiar with the structure, I set a challenge to not only test my puzzle-solving abilities but to quiz myself on how well I’ve gotten to know each part and its location. In answering my essential question, “How does the infant brain structure work?” I’ve learned that though we don’t remember nearly anything about this stage, understanding how the infant brain structure works reveal how the mind is built. By building the brain again in my own hands, I was able to tie together what I’ve learned about baby brains and brain development. Is it strange to say that it feels almost therapeutic? Probably. At birth, a baby already has practically all the neurons it will ever have. Holding it in my hands again reminded me just how fascinating the brain really is. The puzzle was incredibly difficult to assemble especially since it is pretty small, but I was able to utilize grit and embrace the challenges I was facing. I was able to put it back together and scored fairly well on my “self-quiz.”