title: Brain plasticity in the developing brain.
abstract: The developing normal brain shows a remarkable capacity for plastic change in response to a wide range of experiences including sensory and motor experience, psychoactive drugs, parent-child relationships, peer relationships, stress, gonadal hormones, intestinal flora, diet, and injury. The effects of injury vary with the precise age-at-injury, with the general result being that injury during cell migration and neuronal maturation has a poor functional outcome, whereas similar injury during synaptogenesis has a far better outcome. A variety of factors influence functional outcome including the nature of the behavior in question and the age at behavioral assessment as well as pre- and postinjury experiences. Here, we review the phases of brain development, how factors influence brain, and behavioral development in both the normal and perturbed brain, and propose mechanisms that may underlie these effects.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Electronic address: kolb@uleth.ca.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kolb
authors.forename: Richelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mychasiuk
authors.forename: Arif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muhammad
authors.forename: Robbin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gibb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: brain development; prefrontal cortex; recovery of function; types of plasticity