Abstract
Until recently, it was thought that the important stages in the development of the brain occurred before birth and that postnatal growth merely represented an increase in size, not complexity. This concept has been shown to be incorrect. It is now known that the rapid expansion of the brain after birth reflects ongoing maturational processes that increase connections among neurons and facilitate neuronal function.1,2 Many of these refinements continue until well into adulthood and may be utilized in the brain’s response to injury.12,13,14
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Purpura DP: Dendritic differentiation in human cerebral cortex: Normal and aberrent developmental patterns, in Kreuteberg GW (ed): Advances in Neurology. New York, Raven Press Publishers, 1975, vol 12.
Yakovlev PI, Lecours AP: The myelogenetic cycle of regional maturation of the brain, in Minkowski A (ed): Regional Development of the Brain in Early Life. Oxford, Blackwell, 1967, pp 3–70.
Tanner JM: Growth and Development of the Brain in Foetus into Man. London, Open Books, 1978, pp 103–116.
Cheek DB: Fetal and Postnatal Cellular Growth. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1975.
Davison AN, Dobbing J: The developing brain, in Davison AN, Dobbing J (eds): Applied Neurochemistry. Oxford, Blackwell, 1968, pp 253–286.
Imamoto K, Leblond CP: Presence of labelled monocytes, macrophages and microglia in a stab wound of the brain following an injection of bone marrow cells labelled with 3H-uridine into rats. J Comp Neurol 1977;174:225–80.
Conel JL: The Postnatal Development of the Human Cerebral Cortex. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1939–1959, vol 1–4.
James DW: Growth cones and synaptic connections in tissue culture, in Bel-lairs R, Gray EG (eds): Essays on the Nervous System. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1974.
Hamburger V: Cell death in the development of the lateral motor column of the chick embryo. J comp Neurol 1975;160:535–546.
Purpura DP: Structure-dysfunction relationships in the visual cortex of preterm infants, in Brazier MAB, Coceani F (eds): Brain Dysfunction in Infantile Febrile Convulsions. New York, Raven Press Publishers, 1976.
Huttenlocher PR: Dendritic development in neocortex of children with mental defect and infantile spasms. Neurology 1974;24:203–210.
Goldman-Rakic PS: Development and plasticity of primate frontal associationcortex, in Schmitt FO (ed): The Organization of the Cerebral Cortex. Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1981, pp 69–97.
Liu CN, Chambers WW: Intraspinal sprouting of dorsal root axons. Arch Neurol 1958;79:46–61.
Raisman G: Neuronal plasticity in the septal nuclei of the adult rat. Brain Res 1969;14:25–48.
Moss ML: Functional Anatomy of Cranial Synostosis. Child’s Brain 1975;1:22–33.
Sperber GH: Characteristics of Bone Development and Growth, in Sperber GH (ed): Craniofacial Embryology. Littleton: Wright, 1981.
Friedenberg ZB, Harlow MC, Heppenstall RB et al.: The cellular origin of bioelectric potentials in bone. Calc Tiss Res 1973;13:53.
Meisen B: Time and mode of closure of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis determined in human autopsy material. Acta Anat 1972;83:112.
Aisenson RM: Closing of the anterior fontanelle. Pediatrics 1950;6:223–225.
Williams PL, Warwick R: Cranial characteristics at different ages, in Williams PL, Warwick R (eds): Gray’s Anatomy, ed 36. New York, Churchill Livingstone, 1980, pp 344–350.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Peacock, W.J. (1986). The Postnatal Development of the Brain and Its Coverings. In: Raimondi, A.J., Choux, M., Di Rocco, C. (eds) Head Injuries in the Newborn and Infant. Principles of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7183-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7183-4_4
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7185-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7183-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive