Mechanisms of Hierarchical Cortical Maturation

Cortical information processing is structurally and functionally organized into hierarchical pathways, with primary sensory cortical regions providing modality specific information and associative cortical regions playing a more integrative role. Historically, there has been debate as to whether primary cortical regions mature earlier than associative cortical regions, or whether both primary and associative cortical regions mature simultaneously. Identifying whether primary and associative cortical regions mature hierarchically or simultaneously will not only deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate brain maturation, but it will also provide fundamental insight into aspects of adolescent behavior, learning, neurodevelopmental disorders and computational models of neural processing. This mini-review article summarizes the current evidence supporting the sequential and hierarchical nature of cortical maturation, and then proposes a new cellular model underlying this process. Finally, unresolved issues associated with hierarchical cortical maturation are also addressed.