A study shows that the transmission speeds of nerve signals in the human brain increase considerably until adulthood.
- It was thought that the speed of transmission of information between the different areas of the brain peaked in adolescence.
- In fact, the acceleration of this process lasts up to 30 or 40 years.
- The study that demonstrates this makes it possible to better understand the stages of brain development, especially during adolescence when disorders such as anxiety or depression can appear.
The human brain is a complex and fascinating organ. We use our brain all the time to think, to learn new things, to memorize, to decide, to feel emotions… and the list goes on and on. Yet, although the brain is so important, there is still a lot we don’t know about how it works.
The results of a study recently published in the journal Nature Neuroscience represent a step forward in a better understanding of brain mechanisms. This study examined neuronal transmission speed in the human brain, revealing that nerve signal transmission speeds increase dramatically through adulthood.
It was thought until then that the acceleration of neuronal connections stabilized early in adolescence.
Neuronal speed varies according to age
To carry out this study, the researchers placed electrodes on the heads of 74 participants, aged 4 to 51 years. A brief electrical pulse was generated to activate a region of the brain, and the time it took for the signal to travel to other regions was measured. The results reveal that the neural speed of a 4-year-old child was 45 milliseconds for the signal to travel from the frontal regions to the parietal regions of the brain, while it was only 20 milliseconds in a 38-year-old adult. .
Understanding how the brain works in late adolescence
The finding of this study therefore disproves the preconceived idea that the acceleration of neural connections stabilizes early in adolescence. On the contrary, the results show that this speed develops until adulthood, with a decrease in conduction delays until at least 30 years of age. This study is essential for understanding the functioning of the brain and its different stages of development. It can provide insight into disorders specific to adolescence and early adulthood, such as anxiety and depression, which may be due to structural changes in the brain and imbalances in neural transmission.