Brain development and plasticity

The study of the brain is known as neuroscience, a field of biology aimed at understanding the functions of the brain at every level, from the molecular up to the psychological, and how it develops and changes across the life span. There is also a branch of psychology that deals with the anatomy and physiology of the brain, known as biological psychology. This field of study focuses on each individual part of the brain and how it assesses different parts of the body. Plasticity refers to how circuits in the brain change--organize and reorganize--in response to experience, or sensory stimulation. Periods of rapid change or plasticity occur in the brain under four main conditions: when the immature brain first begins to process sensory information (developmental plasticity); second, when changes in the body, like a problem with eyesight, alter the balance of sensory activity received by the brain (activity-dependent plasticity); third, when we alter our behavior based on new sensory information (plasticity of learning and memory), and fourth, following damage to the brain (injury-induced plasticity). Scientists believe that the same brain mechanisms underlie all four types of plasticity: adjustments in the strength of connections, or synapses, between brain cells. The details of the molecular control of synaptic modification is an extraordinarily active field of research. Understanding the mechanisms of brain plasticity is essential to developing interventions to overcome brain damage.

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Links and Resources

Brain Disorders Network on the World Wide Web
BrainNet distributes or assists in the distribution of information related to the central nervous system and various neurological disorders.
Brain Injury Association
The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is the leading national organization serving and representing individuals, families and professionals who are touched by a life-altering, often devastating, traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Family Village Library, Brain Injury
Family Village Library
Kevin C, Ess Research Laboratory
The Kevin C, Ess Research Laboratory studies the neurobiology of progenitor cells, specifically the mechanisms by which neural progenitors make cell fate decisions during development.
National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
The mission of NINDS is to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
Project on the Decade of the Brain
From 1990 to the end of 1999, the Library of Congress and the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health sponsored a unique interagency initiative to advance the goals set forth in a proclamation by President George Bush designating the 1990s as the Decade of the Brain: "to enhance public awareness of the benefits to be derived from brain research" through "appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities."

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Video, Podcast and Images

Experiential, Genetic and Epigenetic Effects on Human Neurocognitive Development
March 13, 2013
Lectures on Development and Developmental Disabilities, Vanderbilt Brain Institute Brainstorm Lecture
Helen Neville, Ph.D., Robert & Beverly Lewis Endowed Chair, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Oregon
A Potential Role for the Thalamus in Developmental Disorders Involving Inattention and Neglect
December 05, 2012
Developmental Disabilities Grand Rounds
Vivien Casagrande, Ph.D., Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology & Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, VKC Investigator
Think Right and Think Left: Using Zebrafish to Understand the Development of Brain Asymmetry
October 3, 2012
Developmental Disabilities Grand Rounds
Joshua A. Gamse, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, & Cell & Developmental Biology, VKC Investigator
Reasoning Ability: Neural Mechanisms, Development, and Plasticity
Silvia Bunge presents at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Lecture on Developmental Disabilities on April 21, 2011.
Dopaminergic Modulation of Brain Development and Behavior
Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Investigator, presented at the Developmental Disabilities Grand Rounds on March 3, 2010.
Understanding Autism Through Peers, Play, and Performance
Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California-Davis MIND Institute, presented a special lecture at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center on December 15, 2009.
Educational Neuroscience: Insights into Attention, Reading, and Mathematics
Bruce McCandliss, Ph.D., Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Member presents at the October, 2009 Developmental Disabilities Grand Rounds.
Video: Immune Transcriptome Changes in the Temporal Cortex of Individuals with Autism
Immune Transcriptome Changes in the Temporal Cortex of Individuals with Autism presentation by Karoly Mirnics, M.D. on April 1, 2009.
Multisensory Processing and Its Possible Role in Developmental Disabilities
Multisensory Processing and Its Possible Role in Developmental Disabilities for clinicians, researchers, trainees, and students presented by Mark Wallace, Ph.D.