New research is demonstrating how the brain develops, in sometimes surprising ways not previously known. For instance, contrary to popular opinion, the brain’s size stops growing around age 6. So how come a 6-year-old doesn’t have the same mental agility as an adult? Is it learned, or are there other structural changes going on not readily apparent?

The Economist has a summary of the new findings, spurred by a new article appearing earlier this month in Nature Neuroscience:

Children can remember facts but are less good at recalling the context in which those facts are relevant. And they are easily swayed from long-term goals. Even when youngsters try their hardest they cannot wait 15 minutes for two biscuits if they can scoff one now instead.

But as people grow, their brains change. Before full volume is attained, the pruning starts. Grey matter gets picked away at different rates in different parts of the organ. Brain cells form white matter as their arms become covered in fatty sheaths that, like the plastic insulation around a metal wire, stop electrical signals leaking out as they zip along the nerve cells. As the grey matter diminishes, the white matter steadily increases. Which is why the brain can mature from an organ of overwhelmingly short-range connections into one with many long-distance links, as Bradley Schlaggar and his colleagues at Washington University, in St Louis, have found.

Schlaggar found in his research that the brain consists of two different networks, rather than physical regions. In children, these networks act as one. In adolescence, they begin to separate from one another. And as adults, they are completely separated, resulting in adults’ ability to focus on long-term goals while denying short-term gains (something children often have difficulty doing).

Interesting stuff, as it adds to our knowledge of how the brain actually may work (as opposed to how we think it works).

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 15 Aug 2007
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