PSYCH 3400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Body Mass Index, Cerebral Cortex, Prefrontal Cortex
Document Summary
By age 6, the child"s body is proportionately not very different from that of the adult. Body mass index (bmi: the ratio of weight to height. In 2010, 2/5 of u. s. children were either overweight or obese: higher in rural areas and far more common among those who are poor, also more common in latino and african-american boys and girls. Large fetus born to overweight mothers are introduced to fat associated hormones early in life. More likely to be unsuccessful in jobs and to not finish high school. Between the ages of 2 and 6, the brain grows from 75% to 90: you see increases in areas that allow advanced language and social understanding, amygdala. Feelings (limbic system: pruning- refines connections based on experiences, visual and motor cortexes are pruning earlier, prefrontal cortex prunes at around age 9. What are some brain parts that develop during early childhood: cerebral cortex. Takes more than 2 full years to mature.
