New study identifies five major phases of brain rewiring

The human brain goes through five major eras of structural changes over a lifetime marked by turning points at ages nine 32 66 and 83 as it rewires to support varied ways of thinking as one grows matures and ultimately declines a study has suggestedAge nine is when communications between brain networks developed since birth transition to the adolescent phase which then lasts up to age 32 researchers led by those from the UKs University of Cambridge explainEarly thirties is when the brains neural wiring shifts into adult mode the longest era lasting over three decades and marked by a stabilising of the brains architecture Age 32 is also the strongest topological turning point of the entire lifetime they saidAge 66 was found to signal the start of an early ageing and age 83 that of a late ageing stage of brain structureThe findings published in the journal Nature Communications help us understand why some brains develop differently at key points in life whether it be learning difficulties in childhood or dementia in our later years lead researcher Alexa Mousley a graduate student at the University of Cambridges cognition and brain sciences unit saidThese eras provide important context for what our brains might be best at or more vulnerable to at different stages of our lives Mousley saidThe lead researcher added that the study is the first to identify major phases of how brain wiring changes across a humans lifespanWe know the brains wiring is crucial to our development but we lack a big picture of how it changes across our lives and why said MousleyThe study analysed the brain structure of 3802 people aged zero to ninety using datasets of magnetic resonance imaging MRI diffusion scans in which connections are mapped by tracking how water moves through brain tissueWe identified four major topological turning points across the lifespan around nine 32 66 and 83 years old These ages defined five major epochs of topological development each with distinctive agerelated changes in topology the authors wroteThe childhood era of the brain is defined by network consolidation as synapses junction between two brain cells or neurons overproduced in a babys brain are whittled down with the more active ones surviving the researchers saidAt age nine the brain is experiencing a stepchange in cognitive capacity and an increased risk of mental health disorders they saidCommunication across the brains networks is increasingly refined during the adolescence era post age nine up to early thirties White matter continues to grow in volume and efficiency of connections increases and is related with an enhanced cognitive performance the team saidThe changes peak in the early thirties and around age 32This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever