In the process of human development and growth, such data as height and weight are relatively common. People can record them at any time to gain a general understanding of the development of the body, but do you know how your brain develops?
Due to a lack of relevant data, it has previously been impossible to quantify the maturity and healthy aging of the human brain. Now, a study has changed that.
Recently, a team of scientists from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and the University of Pennsylvania in the United States collected data from more than 100,000 individuals around the world and more than 120,000 MRI brain scans, ranging in age from fetuses 16 weeks after conception to 100-year-olds. thus drawingThe world’s first growth chart of brain development throughout the life cycle.
This growth chart visually shows how the human brain expands early in life and then slowly turns to shrinking as we age. The research was published in the journal Nature on April 1.
The study found that gray matter volume in the human brain peaks at age 6, but white matter continues to grow until around age 29. Around age 50, the volume of white matter in the brain begins to decrease rapidly.
It is understood that white matter mainly plays the role of transmitting nerve impulses. They are within the spinal cord, and between the spinal cord and various parts of the brain.
Gray matter mainly processes information. The center of the spinal cord is gray matter, which is a densely populated part of neuron cell bodies. There are many low-level nerve centers in gray matter, which can complete some basic reflex activities, such as defecation reflex, urination reflex, and lower limbs stimulated. Shrinking defensive reflexes, etc.
Richard Bethlehem of the University of Cambridge said that in the future, doctors could use this chart as a reference after taking an MRI scan of a patient to detect abnormal changes in the brain.
But it’s too early for this brain diagram to serve as a reference tool for clinicians, and a lot of data is needed to refine its model. There are still some technical hurdles to overcome before this resource can be used to detect brain development.
This chart will come in handy once technology catches up and brain scans become routine clinical diagnoses.
Hashtag: Journal of Brain Development
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