http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2 ... %2Bpuberty
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v29/n ... 0528a.html
Quote:
Prior to puberty, there is a marked overproduction of axons, dendrites, synapses, and receptors (Rakic, 1991). This is followed by a period of rapid pruning and elimination between puberty and adulthood. Up to 50% of synapses and receptors are lost in both cortical (Andersen et al, 2000; Huttenlocher, 1979; Lidow et al, 1991) and subcortical regions (Seeman et al, 1987; Teicher et al, 1995). The time course and degree of pruning, however, varies between regions (Andersen et al, 2000; Huttenlocher, 1979; Teicher et al, 1995).
http://southernpartnership.wisc.edu/lec ... ndouts.pdfCheck out page 8 Dendrite Loss between 8 and 20. Striking loss after 16 (7-10%) Caudate 20% loss by 13!http://www.pediatricservices.com/prof/prof-25.htmQuote:
The classic notion of early intervention, he said, may be seriously incomplete since children undergo a second burst of brain cell growth as they enter puberty; in terms of brain development puberty is a re-play of the first years of life. Mesibov said, "We don't know what this will mean for autism, but with autism we do know it will be interesting."
I went straight home and found the Newsweek article covering this research (it was still sitting in my to-read stack) and there it was: "Maturation does not stop at age 10, but continues into the teen years and even the 20s," says Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental Health. "What is most surprising is that you get a second wave of overproduction of gray matter, something that was thought to happen only in the first 18 months of life."
"The teen years are, then, a second chance to consolidate circuits that are used and prune back [eliminate] those that are not-too hard-wired an ability to hit a curve ball, juggle numbers mentally or turn musical notation into finger movements almost unconsciously." "Think of it as nature's way of giving us a second chance."
http://www.fossworks.com/pdfs/Brain_Research.pdfhttp://www.nmsa.org/Publications/Middle ... fault.aspxQuote:
Though neuroscientists do not have a full understanding of why this occurs, the general conclusion is that adolescent brains go through a period of circuit refinement, pruning unused connections and strengthening more heavily used synapses. For example, if an animal were to grow up in a visually rich, but silent environment, neuroscientists would expect to find a high level of complexity in the circuits of visual areas of the brain while the auditory areas of the brain would have simple or even abnormally reduced circuit complexity.
That is just a few things from a few sites, on the first page sent back by google.
18 Jul 2008, 11:29 pm
