Searching for the principles of brain plasticity and behavior.
An important development in behavioral neuroscience in the past 25 years has been the demonstration that the brain is far more flexible in structure and function than was previously believed. Studies of laboratory animals have provided an important tool for understanding the nature of brain plasticity and behavior at many levels ranging from detailed behavioral paradigms, electrophysiology, neuronal morphology, protein chemistry, and epigenetics. Here we seek a synthesis of the multidisciplinary work on brain plasticity and behavior to identify some general principles on how the brain changes in response to a wide range of experiences over the lifetime.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Electronic address: kolb@uleth.ca.
Bryan
B
Kolb
Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada.
Robbin
R
Gibb
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology
Cerebral cortex; Experience-dependent plasticity; Experience-expectant plasticity; Principles of plasticity