BRAIN BUILDING BEATS · THE BEAT
These educational graphics provide anatomical context for age-related research. Highlighting is an editorial selection, not measured activity, a growth rate or a developmental deadline. Other regions develop too. The surrounding email identifies each study and its relevant age range.
Presentation updated October 2026: neutral context, graphite canvas, muted-gold research highlights and Instrument Sans labels. Gold identifies selected anatomy, not measured activity or a distinct biological tissue class. Anatomical meshes, parcel selections and tissue anchors are preserved. Mobile uses separate transparent, closely framed renders without embedded labels.
Surfaces derive from M-CRIB 2.0 P01, a 16-day neonatal reference, by Alexander and colleagues, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Official atlas repository · Original labels · CC BY 4.0.
Changes: surface extraction and smoothing, illustrative affine and nonlinear shape registration to age-band T2 MRI templates, transparent materials, regional color, camera framing and labels. No artificial regional growth multipliers are applied. Each image is independently framed; its apparent size does not quantify growth.
Shape references are MNI infant atlases and MNI pediatric atlases, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, obtained through TemplateFlow.
Registration fits a reference surface to a broad age-band MRI. It does not create an observed brain at each newsletter age. Whole-brain mask overlap was checked, but the transported regional boundaries and internal anatomy have not been validated in pediatric participants; they are approximate anatomical context, particularly across larger age differences. These models are not suitable for clinical use or measurement. Functional patches, language networks and hippocampal subfields in the cited studies are more specific than the highlighted atlas regions.
| Newsletter stage | Shape-template band | Specific limit |
|---|---|---|
| 12–24 months | 17–21 months | Temporal highlighting shows anatomical context for a broader frontal–temporal response; it is not an exact map of the study’s signal. |
| 2–3 years | 27–33 months | The highlighted frontal folds locate the broader area measured with surface sensors; they are not a precisely isolated functional parcel. |
| 3–4 years | 33–44 months | The highlight locates inferior prefrontal cortex. Surface measurements in a small study do not establish a deadline for rule switching. |
| 4–5 years | 44–60 months | The whole hippocampus is shown for orientation; the fact concerns an internal compartment, not uniform growth of the entire region. |
| 5–6 years | 54–102 months | The whole hippocampus is shown for orientation. Its internal compartments do not all change at the same rate. |
| 6–7 years | 54–102 months | The highlight shows surrounding ventral temporal anatomy, not the exact word-selective patch. Timing follows reading instruction, not a birthday. |
| 7 years and beyond | 84–132 months | Language highlights show anatomical context for a wider functional network. The reference shape uses a 7–11-year MRI template; it is not an exact-age model of every older child. |
Copyright (C) 1993–2004 Vladimir S. Fonov, Louis Collins, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies. The authors and McGill University make no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided “as is” without express or implied warranty. The authors are not responsible for any data loss, equipment damage, property loss, or injury to subjects or patients resulting from the use or misuse of this software package.
Copyright (C) 1993-2019 Vladimir S. Fonov, Louis Collins, McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies. The authors and McGill University make no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided “as is” without express or implied warranty. The authors are not responsible for any data loss, equipment damage, property loss, or injury to subjects or patients resulting from the use or misuse of this software package.