Do more intelligent brains retain heightened plasticity for longer in development? A computational investigation.

ABSTRACT: Twin studies indicate that the heritability of general cognitive ability - the genetic contribution to individual differences - increases with age. Brant et al. (2013) reported that this increase in heritability occurs earlier in development for low ability children than high ability children. Allied with structural brain imaging results that indicate faster thickening and thinning of cortex for high ability children (Shaw et al., 2006), Brant and colleagues argued higher cognitive ability represents an extended sensitive period for brain development. However, they admitted no coherent mechanistic account can currently reconcile the key empirical data. Here, computational methods are employed to demonstrate the empirical data can be reconciled without recourse to variations in sensitive pe

SUBMITTER: Thomas MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6988599 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature