Developmental Brain Research, Deprivation, and Sensory Aids

Abstract

A major goal of brain research is to develop a better understanding of the correspondence between changes in central nervous system (CNS) processes and changes in behavior. Studies of the CNS are approached with the assumption that morphological and physiological features consistently observed under normal developmental conditions are essential to the functional and behavioral interactions that enable members of a species to compete and reproduce successfully in their environment. Since the very nature of brain research makes it difficult, if not impossible, to use human subjects, animal models are used to examine genetic and experimentally induced disorders in an attempt to gain insight into CNS processes underlying developmental patterns, mechanisms of plasticity, and relationships between brain and behavioral organization. Assessments of changes in brain and behavioral development occurring under abnormal conditions are also used to evaluate the capacity of an organism to compensate for developmental differences and to survive trauma to the CNS or abnormal sensory input, such as occurs with the loss of vision or with the use of a sensory substitution device.