Learning through the ages: How the brain adapts to the social world across development

Abstract

In a number of ways development can be understood as a specialized form of learning. As new neuronal circuits are maturing they are molded by environmental experiences much in the way that experience molds synaptic strength in traditional learning models. Furthermore, many of the same mechanisms that underlie synaptic changes in learning also mediate changes that occur across development. This is true at both the molecular level in remodeling of dendritic spines and at the systems level via emotional amplification of associations. A key difference between the two however is that while learning can occur within virtually any circuit at any time, developmental plasticity is much more restrictive in both domain and time window. In this manuscript I review some of the mechanisms associated with developmental neuroplasticity and then provide specific examples from the development of social cognition.