Synaptic Pruning
Your brain's natural housekeeping — trimming unused connections to make the important ones stronger and faster.
The brain's natural process of removing unused or weak neural connections to make the remaining ones stronger and more efficient. Like pruning a tree to help it grow better. Happens most dramatically in adolescence. In autism, research suggests pruning may work differently — retaining more connections, which may contribute to both the strengths (detailed perception) and challenges (sensory overwhelm) of autistic cognition.
How it works
During childhood and adolescence, your brain removes weak or unused neural connections while strengthening heavily used ones. This is 'use it or lose it' in action. Differences in pruning timing and intensity have been linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental differences.
Think of it like
It's like pruning a tree — cutting back some branches so the strongest ones get more sunlight and grow better.
What it feels like
You might wonder why some childhood skills faded while others deepened. Your brain was sculpting itself — keeping what mattered most to you.