Molly Webster

And do we associate those critical periods with being a baby?

And do we associate those critical periods with being a baby?

Neuroscience often makes me feel like I just started falling behind at like three months old because you're just like, oh, that window closed and that window closed and that window closed. I'm like, I'd like to think I'm 40 and the world is still my oyster, but perhaps not.

Neuroscience often makes me feel like I just started falling behind at like three months old because you're just like, oh, that window closed and that window closed and that window closed. I'm like, I'd like to think I'm 40 and the world is still my oyster, but perhaps not.

Neuroscience often makes me feel like I just started falling behind at like three months old because you're just like, oh, that window closed and that window closed and that window closed. I'm like, I'd like to think I'm 40 and the world is still my oyster, but perhaps not.

Wow, this is like creating such a feeling of like urgency in me.

Wow, this is like creating such a feeling of like urgency in me.

Wow, this is like creating such a feeling of like urgency in me.

So critical periods are great for learning and learning fast. They make us super spongy and absorbent to the world around us. But the fact that they close makes it hard to relearn something we've lost or to unlearn something that's getting in our way. But Gould, in her first lab at Johns Hopkins University, actually uncovered a whole new way of thinking about that problem.

So critical periods are great for learning and learning fast. They make us super spongy and absorbent to the world around us. But the fact that they close makes it hard to relearn something we've lost or to unlearn something that's getting in our way. But Gould, in her first lab at Johns Hopkins University, actually uncovered a whole new way of thinking about that problem.

So critical periods are great for learning and learning fast. They make us super spongy and absorbent to the world around us. But the fact that they close makes it hard to relearn something we've lost or to unlearn something that's getting in our way. But Gould, in her first lab at Johns Hopkins University, actually uncovered a whole new way of thinking about that problem.

And weirdly, it all comes down to peer pressure.

And weirdly, it all comes down to peer pressure.

And weirdly, it all comes down to peer pressure.

So Ghoul and her team, they get a bunch of mice at all different ages, and they observe them very, very closely. And she basically confirms sort of what we see anecdotally in humans, that teen mice pay attention to their friends more. They learn from their friends more.

So Ghoul and her team, they get a bunch of mice at all different ages, and they observe them very, very closely. And she basically confirms sort of what we see anecdotally in humans, that teen mice pay attention to their friends more. They learn from their friends more.

So Ghoul and her team, they get a bunch of mice at all different ages, and they observe them very, very closely. And she basically confirms sort of what we see anecdotally in humans, that teen mice pay attention to their friends more. They learn from their friends more.

But then they opened the tiny mouse brains, and what they saw is that mice, just like humans, have oxytocin, this sort of feel-good chemical that's released when we're around friends or loved ones. And they saw that the neurons in the teen mouse brains were more susceptible and sensitive to oxytocin. And so it seemed like, oh... This is a biological, neurological, critical period.

But then they opened the tiny mouse brains, and what they saw is that mice, just like humans, have oxytocin, this sort of feel-good chemical that's released when we're around friends or loved ones. And they saw that the neurons in the teen mouse brains were more susceptible and sensitive to oxytocin. And so it seemed like, oh... This is a biological, neurological, critical period.

But then they opened the tiny mouse brains, and what they saw is that mice, just like humans, have oxytocin, this sort of feel-good chemical that's released when we're around friends or loved ones. And they saw that the neurons in the teen mouse brains were more susceptible and sensitive to oxytocin. And so it seemed like, oh... This is a biological, neurological, critical period.