2022/01/02 by Sebastian Frank, M. Becker, Andrea Qi +6 · 1 citation
Neuroscience · #Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research #Neural dynamics and brain function #Memory and Neural Mechanisms
paper · pdf · doi:10.1101/2022.01.02.474022
openalex publication_date 2022/01/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract It is unclear why and how children learn more efficiently than adults, although inhibitory systems, which play an important role in stabilizing learning, are immature in children. Here, we found that despite a lower baseline concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in early visual cortical areas in children (8 to 11 years old) than adults (18 to 35 years old), children exhibited a rapid boost of GABA immediately after visual training, whereas the concentration of GABA in adults remained unchanged after training. Moreover, behavioral experiments showed that children stabilized visual learning much faster than adults, showing rapid development of resilience to retrograde interference. These results together suggest that inhibitory systems in children’s brains are more dynamic and adapt more quickly to stabilize learning than in adults. One Sentence Summary Children learn more efficiently than adults due to faster stabilization of learning with rapid GABA boosting after training.