Development of Higher Brain Functions in Children

Abstract

Higher cortical functions in children proceed through defined stages of development. Significant limitations in our knowledge exist as to the processes involved in the normal developing human brain with respect to neurophysiological, neuro-chemical, neuroanatomical, metabolic, and other related neuroscience disciplines. Attempts have been made to correlate anatomical and behavioral data in a direct manner, leading to a surfeit of postulations in the literature against a shortage of supporting data for known brain—behavior relationships in children (Taylor, Fletcher, & Satz, 1984). Much emphasis tends to be placed on proposed neural mechanisms and theories accounting for changes regarding development of the human central nervous system (CNS) versus description of changes taking place with respect to normal development of the human brain. Major difficulties exist in drawing fixed conclusions because each human brain is unique with respect to its molecular blueprint, cellular differentiation pattern, acculturation factors, and neural growth patterns (Cooke, 1980; McConnell, 1991).