Neuronal and Brain Maturation

Can plasticity be considered as an extension of “immaturity”? Most forms of neural plasticity are retentions of “embryonic” aptitudes, some of which extend into postnatal ages [1]. Globally, such brain “immaturity” progressively decreases with age. Yet, each anatomical area has its own time windows of plasticity, which results in a mosaic of maturation degrees across brain regions and cell populations [2,3]. In addition, plastic changes vary remarkably among mammalian species according to their developmental schedules. All these aspects are integrating our previous view of neuronal maturation at the cellular level, thus becoming a theme that is promising new, exciting progress [4].