Introduction to Special Series

Excerpt

This introduces a special four-part series about neural plasticity. Plasticity is an important property of developing and mature neural tissue and is currently a very popular topic for scientific investigation. The term plasticity is used here to mean the adaptive phenomena occurring in neural tissue when structural changes coincide with functional modifications. The developing nervous system is capable of a high degree of plasticity. It has the capacity to alter its pattern of pre-existing connections. Changes in the cellular, chemical, or “experiential” environment of the developing neuron may produce new neuronal pathways while previously established connections are lost. In the adult, plastic responses to experiential manipulation occur as well, but the responses in the adult nervous system usually differ qualitatively and quantitatively from those of the developing nervous system.…