WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR BRAIN ACTIVITY
AND BEHAVIOUR ?
White Matter - Myelination
Inside the white matter , the axons get coated with a substance called myelin . The myelin speeds up the transmission of signals , and as a result the axons get bigger and therefore , so does the white matter .
Grey Matter – Synapse Pruning
But where does the grey matter go ? Well , in childhood , the brain over produces synapses but during adolescence , something called synaptic pruning takes place . Unused synapses go and used ones stay , and it depends on the environment that you grow up in . The decreasing number of synapses means a decrease in grey matter .
This represents a huge neurodevelopment and proves that even though the brain stops growing in size , it ’ s still changing and blossoming on a different level . But there are still a few things missing from the picture ; in my view at least . Hopefully , in the coming years more research can be done on the mysterious teenage brain .