The repeated observation of the ontogenetic progression of posterior to anterior brain development has engendered the interpretation that frontal regions exhibit more active synaptic pruning than posterior regions during early adolescence (Feinberg, 1983; Huttenlocher, 1979, 1990). The active changes in anterior neocortex and allocortex may well parallel known developmental changes that occur in executive functions, including attention, behavioral regulation, judgment, and problem solving as adolescents progress towards adulthood (for review, Stiles and Jernigan, 2010). It is tempting to speculate that narrowing the retest interval would increase accuracy in timing of peak growth of regional brain tissue and refine our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the dynamic changes in brain structure throughout adolescence.
