New Brain Discovery Challenges Long-Held Theory of Teenage Brain Development
Researchers at Kyushu University have discovered that the adolescent brain is not just pruning away excess neural connections, but also building dense clusters of synapses. The study found that these synaptic hotspots emerge during adolescence in the mouse cerebral cortex.
A research team at Kyushu University has challenged the long-held theory that the adolescent brain primarily refines circuits through synaptic pruning. The team discovered dense, tightly packed clusters of synapses on specific stretches of dendrites in the mouse cerebral cortex. These synaptic hotspots emerge during adolescence, specifically between three and eight weeks of age in mice. The researchers used super-resolution microscopy and a tissue clearing agent to map dendritic spines across individual Layer 5 neurons. The study suggests that the adolescent brain is not just cutting connections, but also building new synaptic structures. The findings were published in Science Advances.
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