Seonglae ChoA brain map that comprehensively represents the connections between neurons in the brain, essentially a brain circuit diagram.
Published in the Open Connectome Project
A unique personal property that differs even between twins
Open Connectome
The brain develops later than expected, remains stable longer, and ages in stages. Brain development can be divided into 5 stages based on age:
- 0–9 Synapses are overproduced, then pruned to keep only frequently used connections.→ Brain wiring construction phase.
- 9–32 Brain connections become progressively more efficient and organized. Adolescent changes continue into early 30s.→ Disproves the idea that "the brain is finished by age 20".
- 32–66 No major structural changes; plateau/stability phase. Intelligence and personality relatively stable. However, regions become increasingly specialized (modularized). Efficiency ↓, segregation ↑.
- 66–83 White matter begins to deteriorate → reduced connectivity. 'Early aging brain'. Modularity ↑.
- 83+ Overall network weakens, more reliance on specific regions. 'Late aging brain' relies on local processing.
4,216 people aged 0–90 were scanned using diffusion MRI to create Connectomes. 12 graph theory metrics (efficiency, modularity, centrality, etc.) were examined simultaneously, and these high-dimensional metrics were compressed using UMAP, then the points where the 'trajectory of connectivity structure changes with age' were identified.