title: Promoting our understanding of neural plasticity by exploring developmental plasticity in early and adult life.
abstract: Developmental plasticity (DP) is widely considered to be a property of early life stages, but evidence suggests it can be reactivated in mature brains. For example, recent developments on animal models suggest that experience in enriched environments (EE) can induce DP and enable adult recovery from amblyopia; even when the typical critical period for that recovery has closed. An interesting body of evidence suggests that extrapolation of the rejuvenatory power of that paradigm in mature human brains is feasible. These studies show that exposure to EE throughout life is associated with a delay, or even prevention, of age-related cognitive deficits. Consequently, it can be concluded that DP might underlie the neuroprotective effects against a neurocognitive breakdown that have been observed, and that EE exposure later in life might induce DP in a similar way to early EE exposure. Thus, the DP might exert its influence beyond the typical developing age ranges: childhood and adolescence. Although further research is still required, the observation of EE related neuroprotective effects are a breakthrough in the study of DP in humans and new advances in our understanding of neural plasticity have thus been reached.
authors.affiliation: University of Extremadura, Psychology and Anthropology, Avda. de Universidad, s/n, 10071 Cáceres, Spain; Wageningen University, Division of Human Nutrition, Bomenweg 2, 6703 HD Wageningen, Holland, The Netherlands; University of Granada, Experimental Psychology and Physiology of Behavior, Campus de Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address: prohlfsdomnguez@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Paloma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rohlfs Domínguez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003423:Critical Period, Psychological; D004777:Environment; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity
keywords: Cognitive function; Developmental plasticity; Enriched environment; Sensitive/critical period