We often wonder why children learn more quickly than adults, and generally the credit goes to their growing minds, which make them more curious and observant about the environment around them.
A new study done by a group of neuroscientists at Brown University has now provided further information on the specific brain processes that enable children to learn more quickly than adults.
According to a release by Brown University, the study shows that the key behind this ability to rapidly process ABCs and 123s is spelled "GABA." The neurotransmitter aminobutyric acid is abbreviated as GABA. In the study, published in the journal Current Biology, researchers explain GABA's crucial role in helping children process new information and prepare their brains to learn and store even more.
Takeo Watanabe, a professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences at Brown University and the study's principal author, said, "What we found is a rapid increase in GABA in children, connected with learning."
"Our findings show that children of elementary school age can learn more items in a given period of time than adults, resulting in more efficient learning in children," said Takeo Watanabe.
"It is often assumed that children learn more efficiently than adults, although the scientific support for this assumption has, at best, been weak, and, if it is true, the neuronal mechanisms responsible for more efficient learning in children are unclear," Watanabe said.
According to Science Daily, the study examined visual learning in elementary school age children and adults using behavioural and state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques.
"It was found that visual learning triggered an increase of GABA in children's visual cortex, the brain area that processes visual information. That GABA boost also persisted for several minutes after training ended."
