Previous studies had shown that adults have seven such functional networks in the brain. This study, the first to take a fine-grained, whole-brain approach in newborns, found five of those networks are operating at birth.

Crucially, the study also found individual variability in those networks in newborns, which may have implications for how genetics affects behavior in adults.

“For centuries, humans have wondered about what makes them unique and the role of genetic programming versus our lifetime of experience,” said Zeynep Saygin, senior author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.

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