Brains are extremely adaptive and flexible, and it's especially true for kids and teenagers.
New research shows the dynamic of how human brain transforms when we grow up.
Let's find out more.
A map of changes
Mapping the dynamic process of brain development, a new study from Penn Medicine reveals that certain brain regions associated with cognitive, social, and emotional functions remain malleable for longer periods during childhood and adolescence.
The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, shed light on the order in which different brain regions exhibit reductions in plasticity during development.
Plasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize or adapt in response to internal signals or the external environment.
Now we know more about how brains work
The study shows that reductions in plasticity occur earlier in sensory-motor regions and later in associative regions linked to higher-order thinking.
This suggests that executive, social, and emotional brain regions are particularly responsive to the environment during early adolescence.
The research also highlights the impact of socioeconomic environments on brain development, with effects varying across regions and being most pronounced during adolescence.
We still have lots of things to discover
The findings emphasize the importance of environmental enrichment programs to support healthy neurodevelopment throughout adolescence.
