Maturational Windows And Adult Cortical Plasticity (Proceedings Volume / Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Scien)

This book is based on a workshop held at the Santa Fe Institute in May 1993, where leading neuroscientists appraised the field of brain plasticity. The aim of the workshop was to determine whether recent discoveries of cortical malleability warrant a new view of learning and memory, and rehabilitation of human infants and adults. Topics included in the volume are synaptic plasticity, critical periods in brain development, plasticity of the adult brain, developmental disabilities, and rehabilitation. Examples of plasticity are taken from subcortical structures, primary sensory cortices, and higher memory circuits of lower and higher vertebrates. These examples reveal how and when neural systems stabilize during development, and demonstrate that the mature system preserves considerable plasticity. New accounts of basic mechanisms, such as temporal input chunking, association formation via cascades of local connections, and filling in cortical regions by competitive surround activity, unify different areas if research and suggest novel techniques in rehabilitation.