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Although it was believed until 1998 that neurodevelopment ceased at the end of adolescence, there is now strong evidence that neurodevelopment continues throughout adult life. Given this evidence, the two usages can be regarded as complementary, because:
NEURAL DARWINISM IN THEORIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS The term originated with Gerald Edelman 's 1987 book ''Neural Darwinism. The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection''. It has been suggested that . Other leading proponents include Daniel Dennett and William H. Calvin . NEURAL DARWINISM IN NEURODEVELOPMENT The human Brain rapidly creates Synaptic connections between Neuron s after birth. The total number of synapses peaks at around 6-8 months of age. At this point the brain has approximately twice as many synapses between than will exist when the child reaches 10 years of age. Synapses are selectively destroyed or 'pruned', with the most-used synaptic connections remaining and the least-used being removed. In other words it seems the brain becomes rapidly over-connected but we only keep the useful connections. This has been thought to be loosely analogous to Darwin's 'survival of the fittest' maxim and hence has been labelled 'neural Darwinism'. This process allows the formation of significant and long-lasting neural pathways to be influenced by experience early in life. REFERENCES
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