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Headlines 5 This incredible process is elegantly described by Associate Professor Max Berry, a neonatologist from the University of Otago, Wellington: "When you look at an ultrasound of a fetus at 24 weeks gestation, the brain looks like a little peanut with a really smooth surface. There's a lot of developing still to happen. But when you look with ultrasound at the brain of a full-term newborn baby, it's like a walnut. There's all these creases and folds and that's a sign of cortical complexity. All those different nerve cells are talking to each other, and joining up differently, so it's not just volume growth that happens in that time, it's volume complexity." (Read more about her research to aid brain development in premature babies on pages 8 and 9.) At birth, the brain has already reached a quarter of its adult weight. Recent studies have demonstrated that most brain cells are already present at birth – over 100 billion! However, there are limited connections, called synapses, between these cells. Synapses enable communication between brain cells and are the fundamental basis of brain function. In the first years of life, experiences of the infant will effectively ‘wire up’ these connections. With each synapse formed, the brain becomes increasingly able to interpret the world around it – a true testament to the remarkable plasticity of the developing mind, emphasising the importance of supporting and nurturing the infant brain, both in the womb and in the first years of life. “When you look at an ultrasound of a fetus at 24weeks gestation, the brain looks like a little peanut with a really smooth surface. There's a lot of developing still to happen.” Associate Professor Max Berry