The Brain Modifies Itself When Becoming Adult

According to a new scientific study, the brain of children is organized very differently as compared to that of a full-grown adult. That's not to say that they think in chaotic patterns, or that they are not fully able to understand or process a large number of data, but that they simply do so in a different manner as opposed to grown-ups. The experts in charge of the study, from the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM), say that the overarching principles of the adult brain, as in the main thought patterns, are distinguishable in the brains of kids since they are about seven years old.

“Regardless of how tempting it might be to assume otherwise, a normal child's brain is not inherently disorganized or chaotic. It's differently organized but at least as capable as an adult brain,” WUSM in St. Louis James McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience Steven E. Petersen, PhD, explains.

He is also the senior author of a new scientific paper detailing the finds, published online in a recent issue of the journal PLoS Computational Biology. Experts from the Oregon Health and Science University have also contributed to the new research.

“We took a group of the youngest subjects, analyzed their results, then dropped data from the youngest and added data from the next-oldest and redid the analysis until we had worked our way through all subjects. The result was a detailed movie of how the organizational transition from a child's brain to an adult's brain takes place. It clearly shows a switch from localized networks based on physical proximity to long-distance networks centered on functionality,” former WUSM graduate student Damien A. Fair, PhD, adds. He is also one of the leaders of the new study, together with OHSU colleague Alexander L. Cohen.

During their experiments, the researchers used a special device known as the resting-state functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, in order to be able to identify and study brain networks forming while the subjects were sleeping or relaxing. Basically, what the machine does is record the spikes of activity that appear inside the brain when the test subjects aren't doing anything in particular, or when their mind is clear of troubling thoughts.

The results have revealed that most of the connections in children's brains are formed between regions of the cortex that are physically close to each other. Conversely, in adults' brain, most such paths are created between distant brain regions, which are not functionally linked to each other. The scientists have also determined that kids have a very reduced number of long-distance brain connections, as opposed to adults, where this form of interaction is the standard.