Girls mature physically faster than boys because they usually begin puberty about one or two years earlier in comparison. As far as mental maturation is concerned, do girls get a head start as well? Scientists have discovered that girls tend to optimise neural connections in their brains earlier than boys.
With the use of a non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging technique, the scientists have found out that as we grow older, our brains undergo gradual restructuring. Overall connections get streamlined. Long distance connections, which are fundamental in fast and efficient mental processing, are augmented. On the other hand, many redundant shorter connections that are not regularly used were pruned. The whole process of connectivity optimisation to improve mental performance seems to kick off earlier in girls' brains than in boys' brains.
The study has also discovered that the two hemispheres of the brain start to get better connected in girls earlier. Boys also tend to show a delayed start in the development of white matter and grey matter in the brain. All these may explain why girls generally mature faster in certain cognitive and emotional areas during childhood and adolescence. However, the reason behind this gender-based timing difference remains unknown.
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