A study in Current Biology shows that children tend to learn more faster than adults, with distinct differences in GABA based on neuroimaging data.
“Here, we measured the concentration of GABA in early visual cortical areas in a time-resolved fashion before, during, and after visual perceptual learning (VPL) within subjects using functional MRS (fMRS) and then compared the concentrations between children (8 to 11 years old) and adults (18 to 35 years old),” according to researchers.
Researchers determined that the children recruited for the study demonstrated a rapid boost of GABA during visual training even after it ended. Among the adult participants, however, such GABA levels did not change.
“These results together suggest that inhibitory processing in children’s brains is more dynamic and adapts more quickly to stabilize learning than in adults, making learning more efficient in children,” researchers stated in their findings.
The study was published on November 15, 2022.
