14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists have known for some time that the human brain usually reorganizes its neural connections by the time humans reach middle age. During this process, crucial, long-distance neural tracks responsible for integrating information are preserved, while other connections are pruned and made leaner. In a new study, scientists demonstrate that this process occurs earlier in girls than in boys.
This pruning mechanism is set in place so that our minds do not become overwhelmed with useless data, and also because the brain seeks to improve its overall energy efficiency. This selective process was now found to occur somewhat faster in girls, say researchers Marcus Kaiser and Sol Lim at the Newcastle University, in the United Kingdom.
“Long-distance connections are difficult to establish and maintain but are crucial for fast and efficient processing. […] Some information flow within a brain module might be redundant whereas information from other modules, say integrating the optical information about a face with the acoustic information of a voice is vital in making sense of the outside world,” says Kaiser.
Details of the new research were published in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Cerebral Cortex. The team, working with colleagues at university in Glasgow and Seoul, used diffusion tensor imaging to conduct their study, on 121 test participants. The study concludes by arguing that the clean-up mechanism is the only way for brain networks to remain stable during the long maturation process, EurekAlert reports.