One of the most fascinating advances of modern neuroscience is the realization that brain circuitry is not “hard-wired” but is significantly modifiable by experience. A large capacity for adaptation of the brain has been demonstrated not only during early development, where it would be expected, but also in adulthood. During early development, precise patterns of functional connections are established in the brain based largely on the actual experience of the individual organism. In adulthood, the brain retains a substantial capacity for adaptive modification in response to continuing interaction with the environment. This experience-dependent plasticity is considered to be (1) the basis for learning and memory, (2) crucial for recovery from brain damage and disease, and (3) by its relative absence, to be responsible for age-related cognitive decline. The critical importance of experience-dependent plasticity has evoked tremendous interest from the neuroscience community.

At the Institute many of our research projects - for example the studies of the auditory cortex, music and language perception, dopamine regulation, synaptic communication, and theoretical modeling of learning and behavior - involve investigations of neuronal plasticity.

back to top