Academic achievement. College scholarship. Presidential aspirations.

These used to be phrases parents tossed around at their kid's high school graduation.

Today, it's a new form of "baby talk." From maternity wards to toddler play groups to mommy chat rooms, how to raise a smart baby is a key focus of conversation and concern.

"Parents have always wanted the best for their babies, but now it seems there really is a much more focused attempt, and more worry and concern about doing the right thing to encourage baby's growth and development, particularly brain development," says Nina Sazer O'Donnell, director of National Strategies for Success By 6, a United Way of America learning initiative.

The concerns are not without merit. While a portion of a baby's 100 billion brain cells are prewired at birth -- mostly the ones connected to breathing, heartbeat, and other physiological survival functions -- it is during the first five years of life that much of the essential wiring linked to learning is laid down.

"What occurs during the first five years of life can have an enormous impact on not only how well the baby's brain develops at the moment, but how well that baby learns and grows throughout their lifetime," says Christopher P. Lucas, MD, director of the Early Childhood Service at the NYU Child Study Center and associate professor ofchild and adolescent psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine.

While experts say baby brain development is still largely a mystery, what we do know is just how great a role natural parenting instincts can play in putting your baby on the fast track to success.