Lye – three things the brain needs  

So I think we’re at a very exciting time. We know so much about how the brain develops. We know that the brain essentially needs three things. It needs nutrition because – and that’s nutrition of the mother, particularly during pregnancy, because it’s during pregnancy that the brain cells form in the child’s brain. In fact, by the time birth occurs, that baby has 100 billion nerve cells in its brain. That’s as many stars are there are in the universe and as many brain cells as we all have in our lives. 

So you need good nutrition — nutrition that produces energy because at the time of birth, most of the energy used by the body is used by the brain. You need good nutrition because you need a mix of calories, and protein, and lipids. A lot of the brain cells are formed of lipid, and so we need that.  

And then in addition to nutrition, you need stimulation, because once you form all the brain cells, you have to connect them. It’s the connections between brain cells that form largely in the early first months and years of life that allow us to learn, that allow us to memory, and that provide the ability to develop social relationships. And these connections require stimulation. Early in life, the brain is like a sponge. The child is soaking up the entire environment around her. And stimulation from that environment helps form strong connections between the neurons that underlie our memory and learning ability. 

And then thirdly, the brain needs to be protected from abuse, neglect, and violence because those circumstances result in stress within the individual in high levels — chronic high levels of stress hormones like cortisol that actually damage the formation of those connections and even damage the formation of the brain cells themselves. 

So a brain is a complex organ that underlies everything we do. And in order to build that brain, we need nutrition, and stimulation, and protection.