Australian researcher in collaboration with a team from the US have mapped and observed some mind-blowing changes that occur as young brains develop.

The UWA and US scientists have created a comprehensive map of the brain’s epigenome, providing a never-before-seen view of the developing brain. The epigenome is an extra layer of genetic information that defines part of the way a cell grows and interacts with its surrounds.

UWA Professor Ryan Lister, a genome biologist at the ARC Centre for Excellence in Plant Energy Biology says “these new insights will provide the foundation for investigating the role the epigenome plays in learning, memory formation, brain structure and mental illness." 

The epigenome map has reportedly shown that in the period during which the brain’s circuitry matures, the epigenome goes through a total reconfiguration as well. The human maturation process is a very long and complicated one wherein periods of development forge complex structures and connections within our brains, this research has shed some light on the way each person's brain is able to develop similarly but also almost entirely uniquely.

Researchers used advanced DNA sequencing technologies to understand the role of the epigenome in brain development. They have produced a comprehensive map of which segments in the genome have specific chemical tags in brains from infants through to adults. The study delivers the first complete maps of DNA methylation and its dynamics in the brain.

A much more extensive overview of this trial and the epigenome is available from the UWA.