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Neuroimaging of plasticity mechanisms in the human brain: from critical periods to psychiatric conditions

Neuropsychopharmacology volume 48, pages 219–220 (2023)Cite this article

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Critical periods are windows of programmed neurodevelopmental plasticity wherein external inputs exert large and lasting impacts on the organization of neural circuits. Neural plasticity during critical periods is regulated by known biological mechanisms, which appear largely conserved across brain regions and across species [1]. Accumulating data implicate alterations in the expression of plasticity-regulating features in the etiology of youth-onset psychiatric conditions [2], suggesting the time is ripe to leverage decades of work on critical periods to mechanistically study plasticity in developmental psychiatry research. Fortunately, as highlighted below, substantial progress has been made in studying critical period associated mechanisms in humans using non-invasive neuroimaging.

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Funding

VJS is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1845298). TDS is supported by R01MH113550, R01EB022573, R01MH120482, RF1MH116920, R37MH125829, R01MH112847, RF1MH121867, the AE foundation, and the Penn-CHOP Lifespan Brain Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Valerie J. Sydnor & Theodore D. Satterthwaite

  2. Penn-CHOP Lifespan Brain Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Theodore D. Satterthwaite

Authors
  1. Valerie J. Sydnor
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  2. Theodore D. Satterthwaite
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VJS and TDS wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Theodore D. Satterthwaite.

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Sydnor, V.J., Satterthwaite, T.D. Neuroimaging of plasticity mechanisms in the human brain: from critical periods to psychiatric conditions. Neuropsychopharmacol. 48, 219–220 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01415-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01415-0

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