Zero to Birth

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By the time a baby is born, its brain contains nearly 100 billion intricately shaped neurons, forming a small, soft-matter supercomputer. This book serves as a step-by-step guide to understanding human brain development, from its earliest embryonic stages to birth and beyond. Written from an experimental neuroscientist's viewpoint, it offers a conceptual framework for developmental neurobiology, detailing the biological mechanisms—genetic, environmental, and stochastic—that significantly influence neural development. It explores the major questions that have driven the field forward, highlighting pioneering discoveries made by scientists worldwide and how the structures and mechanisms of the developing brain were uncovered. Chapters progress chronologically, tracking the growth of the human brain from conception to shortly after birth, while also recounting the history of these discoveries. The narrative integrates findings from studies of model organisms—such as nematodes, flies, frogs, fish, birds, mice, and non-human primates—demonstrating that similar processes and genes are involved across species. The book concludes by discussing the uniqueness of individual brains and how research on early neural development aids in understanding the genetic and embryonic origins of various neurological and cognitive traits that emerge later in life.