Your Toddler’s Brain and Memory
Your two-year old’s brain is three-fourths the size of his adult brain. By five years of age it will be nearly full size. As his brain grows, structures involved in learning, memory, motor control, and other brain functions are being developed.
Right now he has trillions of neural pathways, double the number he will have as an adult. The more often a pathway is used, the stronger the connections are. The development of these pathways is influenced by how your toddler’s brain is used, the variety and richness of the environment he is exposed to, and also genetics. Routine and repetition cause the brain to strengthen the most important connections. Less used pathways are treated by the brain as less important. The pathways that are not used or only used infrequently, will wither away. This is a normal process called pruning.