The Brain Set Free

Lifting neural constraints could turn back time, making way for youthful flexibility

A baby’s brain is a thirsty sponge, slurping up words, figuring out faces and learning which foods are good and bad to eat. Information about the world flooding into a young brain begins to carve out traces, like rushing water over soft limestone. As the outside world sculpts the growing brain, important connections between nerve cells become strong rivers, while smaller unused tributaries quietly disappear.

Michael Morgenstern

PERIODS WITH POTENTIAL | Different functions in the brain, such as thinking and seeing, develop during varying time windows, as nerve cells form new connections called synapses.