image: Functional brain maturation curve for 238 individuals between the ages of 7 and 30 years old. The curve was generated by measuring the functional interactions between a large set of brain regions using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The asymptotic maturation curve shows more rapid maturational changes in childhood and adolescence. It plateaus at an approximate functional "brain age" of 21 years. This image relates to an article that appeared in the ept. 10, 2010, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Nico U. F. Dosenbach of Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and colleagues was titled, "Prediction of Individual Brain Maturity Using fMRI." view more
Credit: Image © Science/AAAS