The brain develops in a predictable sequence involving both the most basic functions and the complex ones. Five basic processes make up the brain development, and brain myelination is one of them. Brain myelination is the process of coating the axons of each neuron with myelin which is a fatty coating. The myelin coating protects the neuron as well as helps them in conducting signals more efficiently (Stiles, 2010). Myelination starts in the brain stem as well as the cerebellum before birth. However, myelination process is not completed in the anterior cortex until during the late stages of adolescence. Rapid myelination in the brain is significantly contributed to by breastfeeding (Agranoff, 2015) .
Since the human brain is not a finished organ at birth and 10 to 12 years are needed before the general development is complete, brain myelination plays a significant role in the development process. Individual brain regions need to undergo structural maturation as well their connecting pathways for them to experience the successful development of their cognitive, sensory and motor functions. The maturation provides for a smooth flow of neural impulses throughout the brain, and this makes it possible for information to be integrated across the numerous spatially segregated brain regions involved in the functions (Nagy, Westerberg, & Klingberg, 2004).
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The speed of the neural transmission is an important factor which is dependent on not only the junctions between nerve cells that are synapses but also on the structural properties of the axons which are the connecting fibers (Nagy et al., 2004). The critical axon structural properties are made up of the thickness and the diameter of the myelin which is the special insulation around many fibers. Large groups of myelinated axons connect various regions in the brain and appear visibly as white matter. Most axons of the major pathways in the human brain continue to develop throughout childhood and adolescence.
References
Agranoff, B. (2015). Advances in Neurochemistry. New York : Plenum Press.
Nagy, Z., Westerberg, H., & Klingberg, T. (2004). Maturation of white matter is associated with the development of cognitive functions during childhood. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 16 (7), 1227-1233.
Stiles, J. (2010). The Basics of Brain Development. Neurppsychology Review, 327-348.
