By the time your baby is born, his brain contains over 200 billion cells, all wired up together with over 20,000 different branches. But what happens during those incredible nine months?
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The basic formation of your baby’s brain starts as early as three weeks. |
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By ten weeks your baby’s brain cells will start to make spontaneous electrical impulses, connecting to other brain cells. |
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At twelve weeks, your baby’s brain cells are multiplying at a rate of 250,000 cells per minute, increasing to half a million per minute. |
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By twenty weeks, your baby has produced all the brain cells he will ever need and no further cells will ever be made. |
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At seven months, your baby will start to lose brain cells that have been inactive or have not been stimulated. |
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During the eighth month, this process peaks and between 40 and 75 per cent of your baby’s brain cells are destroyed. For some cells this is due to a natural fulfilment of their purpose but for the majority it is simply due to a lack of stimulation that has caused them to be unnecessary. |