Developmental trajectory of transmission speed in the human brain

• Published in: Nature neuroscience Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 537 - 541
• Main Authors: van Blooijs, Dorien, van den Boom, Max A., van der Aar, Jaap F., Huiskamp, Geertjan M., Castegnaro, Giulio, Demuru, Matteo, Zweiphenning, Willemiek J. E. M., van Eijsden, Pieter, Miller, Kai J., Leijten, Frans S. S., Hermes, Dora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.04.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 59/57; 631/378/2571; 631/378/2612; 631/443/376; 706/648/697/129; 9/30; Adolescent; Age; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Techniques; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain; Brain - physiology; Brief Communication; Child; Child development; Children; Communication; Connectome; Electrodes; Fibers; Humans; Latency; Magnetic resonance imaging; Middle Aged; Neurobiology; Neurons; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Signal Transduction; White Matter
• ISSN: 1097-6256; 1546-1726; 1546-1726
• DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01272-0

The structure of the human connectome develops from childhood throughout adolescence to middle age, but how these structural changes affect the speed of neuronal signaling is not well described. In 74 subjects, we measured the latency of cortico-cortical evoked responses across association and U-fibers and calculated their corresponding transmission speeds. Decreases in conduction delays until at least 30 years show that the speed of neuronal communication develops well into adulthood. This study mapped the developmental trajectory of transmission speed in the human brain by using electrical pulses and intracranial recordings. The authors found that these pulses travel with increasing speeds up to at least the age of 30.