Sensitive and critical periods during neurotypical and aberrant neurodevelopment: a framework for neurodevelopmental...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• The brain exhibits significant plasticity during sensitive and critical periods, shaping synaptic, network, and behavioral development.
• Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are characterized by developmental delays in motor, social, and sensory functions, with children often missing key milestones.
• Genetic NDD mouse models show temporally-regulated, sometimes transient, impairments in neuronal and behavioral phenotypes during development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the underlying mechanisms of impairments in neurodevelopmental disorders.
• To explore the potential links between NDD neurobiological mechanisms and those governing typical brain development.
• To highlight the utility of critical and sensitive periods in vertebrate development for studying NDDs.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on sensitive and critical periods in neurotypical development.
• Analysis of data from genetic NDD mouse models focusing on developmental phenotypes.
• Comparative analysis of neurodevelopmental trajectories in typical and NDD models.

Main Results:

• Sensitive and critical periods are fundamental to neurotypical brain development and modification.
• NDDs present with specific, time-sensitive developmental delays and impairments.
• Temporal regulation of neuronal and behavioral phenotypes is observed in NDD models.

Conclusions:

• Known critical and sensitive periods offer a framework for understanding NDDs.
• Further investigation into these periods can advance our knowledge of the neural bases of NDDs.
• This approach holds promise for uncovering novel therapeutic targets and strategies for developmental disorders.