Two neurobiological processes are likely to contribute directly to these observed effects. One, systematic pruning of local connections with age are likely to result in weakening of local connections and formation of more localized and specialized processing nodes. These changes are known to occur prenatally, in childhood and in adolescence [83]. In parallel, increased myelination of axonal fiber tracks with age, also contribute to strengthening of long-range connectivity [84]. Both these processes are likely to be influenced by experience dependent Hebbian plasticity, leading to selective strengthening and weakening of connections [85].
