The cerebral hemispheres are more independent in babies and children 🧠
Independent functioning of the cerebral hemispheres is one of the achievements of maturity: children are, relatively speaking, split-brain subjects, with less interhemispheric independence. Babies and young children are less reliant on the corpus callosum: callosal myelination does not even begin until the end of the first year of life, and progresses only slowly thereafter. Pre-adolescent children find it relatively difficult to use their hemispheres separately, which is still further evidence of the inhibitory role played by the corpus callosum in adults. Interhemispheric connectivity grows during childhood and adolescence, with the result that the hemispheres become more independent.
References
- Mcgilchrist, Iain. (2010). The Master and His Emissary Chapter 6 The Triumph of the Left Hemisphere (p. 446). London, UK: Yale University Press.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Developmental Neurology Status:☀️