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" are capable of very strong emotions and very strong passions, but their prefrontal cortex hasn't caught up with them yet. The images show one of the last parts of the brain to complete this maturation process is the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning, judgment and self-control. The cells and connections used the most survive and flourish, and those not used will whither and die, said Giedd. Then, during the teen years, the brain trims back excess cells and connections so what's left is more efficient. Giedd's images show a thickening in gray matter on the outer part of the brain peaks at age 11 in girls and at age 12 in boys.
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In other words, the "makeup" of the brain, the individual elements of the brain, continue to evolve and become more efficient throughout the teenage years, even into a person's 20s.
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"What's new is that the brain's anatomy in the teen years is changing far more dynamically than we would ever have guessed," said Giedd.
At what age is the brain fully developed full size#
Giedd, like most of his colleagues, had thought that since the brain has reached 90 percent of its full size by the age of 6, that it was virtually fully developed. Jay Giedd, who directs the project as chief of brain imaging at the research center. "Recent advances in imaging technology, even over the last 18 months to two years, allow us to really zero in on specific brain parts," said Dr. Using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, government researchers can now journey through the brain, from top to bottom, left to right, back to front, and most important, from year to year. On summer evenings, Wright, 17, allows government researchers to peer into the very deepest recesses of his brain, just as they've been doing since he was 13. Teenager Bryan Wright is one of hundreds of volunteers taking part in the research at the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md.