It is commonly stated that the prefrontal cortex typically is not fully functional until as late as age 24. If true, this must be an average figure.
If one considers young children that, due to circumstances, are required to act responsibly and independently, far beyond their chronological age, and how they continue through their adulthood to being very responsible and independent.
On the other hand, consider the child who has a "helicopter" mom or other overindulgent caregivers, and how everything is done for them so they often do not act responsibly or independent. This lack of character building then results in an adult who continues acting like a child who is undisciplined, unethical, and irresponsible.
Of course, a middle ground is needed for child development to result in an adult who is well-balanced.
Are my impressions supported by empirical evidence or well-founded theory? Is there a neuroscientific explanation re. the plasticity of the brain?
Experiences during the 'childhood' period most definitely can alter plasticity in the brain. A recent study from my lab looked at the effects of play deprivation on dendritic morphology in the PFC.
Check out this article: "Social play in juvenile hamsters alters dendritic morphology in the medial prefrontal cortex and attenuates effects of social stress in adulthood."
Burleson, Cody A.; Pedersen, Robert W.; Seddighi, Sahba; DeBusk, Lauren E.; Burghardt, Gordon M.; Cooper, Matthew A.
Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 130(4), Aug 2016, 437-447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bne0000148
Hope this helps!
In addition, here are articles on the
aging brain.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/sfn-an032207.php
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/niom-esb122106.php
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/uoia-cdr061215.php
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-03/babs-hba030515.php
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/uoa-pot080714.php
http://newatlas.com/study-aging-limited-impact-brain-function/36455/
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/cp-dii073014.php
Regards,
Joachim
Thank you Joachim. Very interesting articles! The first one is especially pertinent to the question.
Thank you Brooke. I was able to read only the first part of your article because of the publisher's restrictions. What I read was very interesting - I could personally identify with the conditioning and the symptoms of the play-deprived hamsters!
Antonio,
I don't have a copy of the Burleson et al. article myself, at the moment, but I will try to dig one up for you
Dear Brooke,
I enjoyed reading the document, much of it beyond my ken.
In trying to extrapolate to the human condition, I can readily see how playing with cohorts at a young age can help one, as an adult, deal successfully with adult interpersonal relationships later on. However, with humans that are first-born or only-child, they are affected by their long formative interactions with their parents. They tend to become more submissive (non-confrontational); they tend to follow the rules; they tend to obey authority figures, especially teachers; etc. If this is true, then apparently their brains (including the PFC) have been fundamentally affected by their almost exclusive experiences with their parents.
With this in mind, is there any evidence of neural changes taking place due to the exclusive parental interactions of the hamsters? Maybe comparing the brains of pre-weaned hamsters with both the play-deprived and the play-experienced hamsters would be interesting.
Antonio,
There is very interesting work suggesting that early life stress results in an early or accelerated maturation of prefrontal cortex circuitry and related networks. This early life stress could be maternal separation or lack of attention from the mother. Infants normally show high plasticity in fear learning with fast extinction learning and resistance to relapse. Extinction learning is much slower in older animals and prone to relapse. However, infant rats that have been stressed display fear learning behaviors much more similar to those of adults. Here is a link to a compelling review:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23964249
It should be noted, however, that this likely isn't the case for other points in the lifespan. For instance, stress in adolescence seems more to do the opposite, and disrupt prefrontal cortex development, leaving it in a less mature state.
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