Kids learn with gift of the GABA

SCIENTISTS have found a key to explain why children are often better at learning than adults.

Researchers at Brown University in the US imaged the brains of youngsters aged eight to 11 before, during and after a visual learning exercise.

They saw a rapid boost of GABA, a neurotransmitter that locks in new learning, which lingered for minutes. Adult levels stayed the same.

‘Our results point to GABA as a key player in making learning efficient in children,’ said Dr Sebastian Frank, lead author of the study published in Current Biology.