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Updated: May 5, 2026

A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance

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Published on: May 7, 2014

Balancing plasticity/stability across brain development.

Anne E Takesian¹, Takao K Hensch

¹FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Progress in Brain Research

|December 7, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Brain plasticity changes throughout life, with early development offering a critical window for learning. Molecular brakes later limit this plasticity, but understanding them may unlock lifelong learning and new therapies.

Keywords:

GABA critical period epigenetics lynx1 myelin parvalbumin perineuronal net

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Published on: September 20, 2024

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Molecular Biology

Background:

Brain function is highly sensitive to environmental influences, particularly during early development.
Neural circuits undergo significant plasticity early in life, which later stabilizes.
Critical periods in development are key to understanding how plasticity is initiated and terminated.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the onset and closure of critical periods in neural development.
To explore the role of excitatory-inhibitory circuit balance and molecular brakes in regulating plasticity.
To understand how plasticity is actively dampened during development and its implications for adult learning.

Main Methods:

Focus on critical periods in the visual cortex.
Analysis of GABAergic circuit maturation.
Pharmacological and genetic manipulation of neural circuits.
Investigation of extracellular plasticity regulators.

Main Results:

Excitatory-inhibitory circuit balance acts as a trigger for critical periods.
Maturation of specific GABA circuits determines the onset of critical periods.
Molecular "brakes" actively limit plasticity in the adult brain.
Plasticity regulators, often extracellular, can reversibly dampen neural plasticity.

Conclusions:

Critical period timing is itself plastic and can be manipulated.
Adult plasticity is actively suppressed by molecular brakes, not passively lost.
Understanding and potentially lifting these molecular brakes could lead to novel therapies for enhancing learning and cognitive function throughout life.