Plasticity and variation in brain organization and behaviour

大脑组织和行为的可塑性和变异

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-06434
• 负责人: Cooke, Dylan
• 金额: $ 1.89万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=630701
• 关键词: Plasticity; variation; brain; organization; behaviour

Mammalian brains change throughout the course of a lifetime, but the impact of early life experience has the most profound effect on how the brain is constructed. Specifically, changes in connectivity and organization of the neocortex and the behavior it directs give mammals (humans included) enormous flexibility to adapt to novel environments. Such experience-based plasticity has been demonstrated by enhancing or depriving sensorimotor experience, which generally enlarges and shrinks corresponding body part representations, respectively. For example, trimming the whiskers of rats and mice causes the cortical whisker representation to shrink and that of the forelimb to grow. Training rodents to reach with their forelimbs enlarges the paw representation. The additional neural processing possible in larger representations is thought to underlie enhanced abilities of the corresponding body parts.

哺乳动物的大脑在一生中都会发生变化，但早期生活经历的影响对大脑的构造产生了最深远的影响。具体来说，新皮层的连接和组织及其指导的行为的变化赋予哺乳动物（包括人类）巨大的灵活性，以适应新的环境。这种基于经验的可塑性已经通过增强或剥夺感觉运动经验来证明，这通常分别扩大和缩小相应的身体部位表征。例如，修剪大鼠和小鼠的胡须会导致皮质胡须表征萎缩，前肢的胡须表征增长。训练啮齿类动物用前肢触地可以扩大爪子的代表性。在更大的表征中可能出现的额外神经处理被认为是相应身体部位能力增强的基础。