How the brain first takes shape

1. Your brain begins as a hollow neural tube, which forms about three weeks after conception.
2. Within a few weeks the top end of that tube swells into three bulges, and those bulges become the forebrain, the midbrain and the hindbrain.
3. Every other part of your brain grows out of those three divisions, so they are the building plan for the whole organ.

The parts of the developing brain

1. Forebrain: the largest division, which grows into the cerebrum and the structures sitting beneath it.
   1. It supports thinking, language, memory, emotion and conscious, deliberate movement.
   2. It is the last of the three to finish developing, and it carries on maturing well past your teenage years.
2. Midbrain: the short middle division that connects the forebrain to the hindbrain.
   1. It controls reflex reactions to what you see and hear, and helps regulate arousal, alertness and the cycle of sleeping and waking.
3. Hindbrain: the lowest division, sitting where the brain meets the spinal cord.
   1. It runs the automatic processes that keep you alive and coordinates your movement.
   2. It is the most developed of the three divisions at birth, because a newborn needs it working from the very first minute.
4. Cerebellum: a structure within the hindbrain, tucked underneath the back of the cerebrum.
   1. It coordinates voluntary movement, balance, posture and fine motor control.
   2. It grows very fast across the first year of life, which is why a baby's control of its own body improves so quickly.
5. Medulla: the structure at the very base of the hindbrain, where the brain joins the spinal cord.
   1. It controls involuntary functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and swallowing.
   2. It is among the earliest structures to mature, because not one of those functions can wait until later.

The order the brain develops in

1. The brain matures from the bottom upwards, and that order is the same for everyone.
2. The hindbrain goes first, with the medulla ready before birth, because survival cannot be postponed.
3. The midbrain and the cerebellum follow, bringing alertness and control of movement.
4. The forebrain finishes last, which is why reasoning, planning and self-control are the slowest abilities to arrive.

Turning this into marks

1. Marks here go to the named structure and what it does, so give both together rather than a vague comment about the brain growing.
2. If a question describes a baby or child who cannot yet do something, say which structure is not yet mature and why that stops the behaviour.
3. The mark most often lost is on the names themselves, because writing cerebrum when you mean cerebellum loses it outright.