Children's ability to learn is fascinating, as they are able to integrate new knowledge quickly… and retain it.
A new study has been conducted by neuroscientists from the University of Regensburg in Germany and Brown University in the United States.
It reveals that it is gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) that would influence this rapid learning in them, says ScienceAlert.
This messenger would also play a role in stabilizing knowledge.
To reach such conclusions, the scientists used a neuroimaging technique: cerebral functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Reduced stabilization time
The aim was to measure the concentration of GABA in the visual cortex before, during and after a visual learning process.
55 children aged 8 to 11 and 56 adults aged 18 to 35 took part in the study.
It turns out that the level of GABA remained constant in the adults during the experiment.
But in children, it varied: “We have seen a rapid increase in GABA in the youngest during learning.
But not only: the high level was maintained after the activity”, explained one of the co-authors of the study.
An increase that could be responsible for the stabilization of knowledge.
Adults, on the other hand, should wait at least an hour before being able to integrate newly learned elements without forgetting what had been ingested previously.
For children, this time would be reduced to 10 minutes.
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