Experience and the developing prefrontal cortex

2012/10/08 by Bryan Kolb, Richelle Mychasiuk, Arif Muhammad +3 · 1 voice · 4 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior #Stress Responses and Cortisol

paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1121251109

openalex publication_date 2012/10/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) receives input from all other cortical regions and functions to plan and direct motor, cognitive, affective, and social behavior across time. It has a prolonged development, which allows the acquisition of complex cognitive abilities through experience but makes it susceptible to factors that can lead to abnormal functioning, which is often manifested in neuropsychiatric disorders. When the PFC is exposed to different environmental events during development, such as sensory stimuli, stress, drugs, hormones, and social experiences (including both parental and peer interactions), the developing PFC may develop in different ways. The goal of the current review is to illustrate how the circuitry of the developing PFC can be sculpted by a wide range of pre- and postnatal factors. We begin with an overview of prefrontal functioning and development, and we conclude with a consideration of how early experiences influence prefrontal development and behavior.

Cited by

• Mut zur Selbstregulierung.
• The role of parenting in the intergenerational transmission of executive functioning: A genetically informed approach
• Critical aspects of neurodevelopment
• Protracted development of motor cortex constrains rich interpretations of infant cognition
• A new look at domain specificity: insights from social neuroscience

Discussions

• Notably, more recent studies such as Kolb et al (2012) say: "cerebral maturation is not complete until an individual reaches his or her fourth decade of life." So even that early 20s "number" has be [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]

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