Neural reuse in the organization and development of the brain

作者：Anderson Michael L^*

来源：Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 2016, 58: 3-6.

DOI：10.1111/dmcn.13039

Neural reuse is the process by which neural elements originally developed for one purpose are put to many different subsequent uses. In this brief review I will outline the role of neural reuse in the development of the brain. Special attention will be paid to elucidating and differentiating between two different mechanisms of neurocognitive development: Hebbian plasticity, the importance of which is already well known, and a neural search mechanism that supports the establishment of new functional partnerships in the brain. I describe how these two mechanisms work in concert throughout development to produce the functional architecture we observe in the adult brain; outline the evidence for the importance of neural reuse; offer suggestions for some clinical implications of neural reuse; and point to future research directions.

• 出版日期2016-3