BRAIN DEVELOPMENT_sandbox

BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

How Brains Mature

PRUNING + MYELINATION
SIGNAL SPEED MATTERS
BEING PARTIALLY MATURE

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PRUNING

Pruning is the process of eliminating neurons in the brain when they are not used.

We lose brain cells as we get older.
This actually makes us better at certain skills.

MYELINATION

Myelination means the covering of neurons in the brain.

The material that covers nerves is called myelin and is made of fat cells.
Myelinated brain cells send signals 3000x faster than unmyelinated brain cells.
A fully myelinated brain can send messages the fastest, but that doesn’t happen until you’re almost 30!

SIGNAL SPEED MATTERS

Think of unmyelinated neurons like dirt roads and myelinated ones like paved highways.

Cars can travel a lot faster on a smooth paved highway than on a bumpy dirt road.

Nerves transmit electrical signals.
These signals travel much faster when a neuron is myelinated.
The signals also don’t spread to neighboring neurons.
This is the same reason wires — like your cellphone charger — are coated in plastic, so you don’t get a shock when you touch them.

We strongly encourage watching this 4 minute video from Dr. Dan Siegel about pruning and myelination.

BEING PARTIALLY MATURE

It takes three decades for the brain to fully develop.

Myelination happens in a very specific order. Remember, the parts of the brain that are myelinated work more efficiently, so they dominate decision making.

It starts at the bottom and works up toward the top.
It starts deep inside the brain and works out towards the edges.
This is why the limbic system develops before the prefrontal cortex.
The limbic system is in the middle of the brain
And the prefrontal cortex is all the way out at the edge, beneath the forehead.