Myelin / Myelination
The fatty insulation that wraps your nerve fibres — making signals travel faster, like upgrading from dial-up to broadband.
The fatty insulation that wraps around nerve fibres, like plastic coating on electrical wires. It makes signals travel faster and more efficiently. The brain continues myelinating into the mid-20s (which is why the teenage brain works differently from the adult brain). Differences in myelination patterns may contribute to processing speed variations in several neurodevelopmental conditions.
How it works
Your brain wraps nerve fibres in myelin to speed up electrical signals and prevent them from leaking. Myelination continues into your 20s, which is why some skills take years to feel automatic. Differences in myelination patterns can affect processing speed across neurotypes.
Think of it like
It's like plastic coating on electrical wires — without it, signals leak, slow down, and can short-circuit.
What it feels like
You might feel like some mental processes are lightning fast while others feel sluggish. That's partly about which pathways are well-insulated and which are still being wrapped.