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Developmental plasticity

About: Developmental plasticity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1721 publications have been published within this topic receiving 103438 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Stellwagen and Malenka have shown that synaptic scaling can be induced by activity-dependent changes in release of the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and, surprisingly, that the source of TNF- alpha is glia rather than neurons.

38 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that bet-hedging by varying offspring plasticity, if it were to evolve, would be more likely instantiated via epigenetic mechanisms than genetic ones (e.g. mating with genetically diverse partners).
Abstract: Children vary in the extent to which their development is shaped by particular experiences (e.g. maltreatment, social support). This variation raises a question: Is there no single level of plasticity that maximizes biological fitness? One influential hypothesis states that when different levels of plasticity are optimal in different environmental states and the environment fluctuates unpredictably, natural selection may favor parents producing offspring with varying levels of plasticity. The current article presents a mathematical model assessing the logic of this hypothesis--specifically, it examines what conditions are required for natural selection to favor parents to bet-hedge by varying their offspring's plasticity. Consistent with existing theory from biology, results show that between-individual variation in plasticity cannot evolve when the environment only varies across space. If, however, the environment varies across time, selection can favor differential plasticity, provided fitness effects are large (i.e. variation in individuals' plasticity is correlated with substantial variation in fitness). Our model also generates a novel restriction: Differential plasticity only evolves when the cost of being mismatched to the environment exceeds the benefits of being well matched. Based on mechanistic considerations, we argue that bet-hedging by varying offspring plasticity, if it were to evolve, would be more likely instantiated via epigenetic mechanisms (e.g. pre- or postnatal developmental programming) than genetic ones (e.g. mating with genetically diverse partners). Our model suggests novel avenues for testing the bet-hedging hypothesis of differential plasticity, including empirical predictions and relevant measures. We also discuss several ways in which future work might extend our model.

38 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze post-adoption recovery in three developmental domains: growth, neuropsychological development, and attachment, given the existence of differential plasticity within each of these domains.
Abstract: Research on adoption is contributing to our understanding of developmental plasticity. As early adversity is usually involved in adoption, researchers can study both the negative consequences of such adversity and the catch-up processes that follow once children are integrated into a protective, loving, and stimulating family context. In this article, we analyze postadoption recovery in three developmental domains: growth, neuropsychological development, and attachment. Given the existence of differential plasticity within each of these domains, generalizations about physical, neuropsychological, and emotional recovery should be avoided.

37 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new hypothesis linking ecological, physiological, developmental and evolutionary processes to adumbrate a comprehensive explanation for the evolution of the lemur syndrome is proposed, whose assumptions and predictions can guide diverse future research on lemurs.
Abstract: Comprehensive explanations of behavioral adaptations rarely invoke all levels famously admonished by Niko Tinbergen. The role of developmental processes and plasticity, in particular, has often been neglected. In this paper, we combine ecological, physiological and developmental perspectives in developing a hypothesis to account for the evolution of ‘the lemur syndrome’, a combination of reduced sexual dimorphism, even adult sex ratios, female dominance and mild genital masculinization characterizing group-living species in two families of Malagasy primates. We review the different components of the lemur syndrome and compare it with similar adaptations reported for other mammals. We find support for the assertion that the lemur syndrome represents a unique set of integrated behavioral, demographic and morphological traits. We combine existing hypotheses about underlying adaptive function and proximate causation by adding a potential developmental mechanism linking maternal stress and filial masculinization, and outline an evolutionary scenario for its canalization. We propose a new hypothesis linking ecological, physiological, developmental and evolutionary processes to adumbrate a comprehensive explanation for the evolution of the lemur syndrome, whose assumptions and predictions can guide diverse future research on lemurs. This hypothesis should also encourage students of other behavioral phenomena to consider the potential role of developmental plasticity in evolutionary innovation.

37 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202316
202244
202172
202076
201953
201864