Neurodevelopment is defined herein as the orderly and orchestrated sequence of changes that our nervous system undergoes during life that result in the acquisition of new and more complex functional abilities. These changes stem from processes involving all nature/biological and nurture/environmental variables in reciprocal and plastic interaction. They have a genetic basis that interacts reciprocally with the environment through experience and epigenetics and they occur during critical and sensitive periods; the structure of the brain is built through experience and is never independent of it. Neurodevelopment is based on the plasticity of the nervous system; the biological, dynamic and inherent capacity of the central nervous system to undergo structural and functional adaptive changes in response to environmental demands. A multiplicity of environmental factors affect neurodevelopment: characteristics of the physical environment, early adversity, prenatal stress, nutrition, immunity, many of them related to poverty. The shift towards a systemic view of neurodevelopment allows for an integrative understanding and supports the implementation of policies that promote positive human development and greater social justice.