Brain children

Because the blood-brain barrier is less well developed in immature brains, children are more susceptible to CNS toxicity from certain toxic substances, such as lead salts, than are adults. The patency of the blood-brain barrier may also become increased under conditions of disease and dehydration. Although the CNS is generally well protected from certain drugs by the blood-brain barrier, the PNS does not have a comparable structure. Therefore, it is possible to have drug effects restricted to peripheral structures only, if their entry into the CNS is excluded. 

For decades I avoided mixtures or copolymers of organic resins with silicones, even abhorred them, because I did not want the pristine properties of my silicone brain children to be degraded or ruined by adulteration. Now, all manner of siloxane-organic copolymers (such as the polyimide block copolymers) with disciplined structures and admirable properties have been developed. 

Because of the effects that lead poisoning has on the development of the brain and different skills controlled by various parts of the brain, children who have been lead poisoned often have difficulties in school. Lead-poisoned children are more likely to be easily dis-... 

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry News Edition The Professor Sings to His Brain Child (p. 149) Volume 11, Number 9,19 May 1933... 

AdinolfiM. 1985. The development of the human blood-CSF-brain barrier. Dev Med Child Neurol 27 532-537. 

The developing brain in the foetus and the yonng child (see above). 

Ketogenesis is particularly important even in a short period of starvation, since the requirement of glucose by the brain of a child is similar to that of an adult, yet the store of glycogen in the liver is much less. Consequently, the store would last for a much shorter time, requiring an alternative fuel for the brain. 

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