Research comparing brain development in humans and our closest nonhuman primate relatives, chimpanzees, reveals how quickly myelin in the cerebral cortex grows, shedding light on the evolution of human cognitive development and the vulnerability of humans to psychiatric disorders, a GW professor finds. Myelin is the fatty insulation surrounding axon connections of the brain.
Human Brains Develop Wiring Slowly, Differing from Chimpanzees, George Washington University Professor Finds
September 26, 2012
Chet Sherwood, associate professor of Anthropology in Columbian College of Arts and Sciences