Representational plasticity in the mammalian brain cortex. (Review article)

The epithelial receptors are represented in the mammalian brain cortex in a genetically defined, strictly regulated manner. Until the 1970s, the cortical maps and the wiring of the central nervous system were thought to be rather static and unchangeable. Subsequently, however, studies of sensory and motor cortical maps in particular genetic strains of animals and in animals with different perinatal or adult histories have revealed that the map organization can be modified at any time between conception and death. Especially studies of the effects of peripheral and central lesions and of perceptual learning on the sensory and motor cortical representations have had a dramatic effect in alerting neuroscientists and therapists to the reorganizational capacity of the adult brain. From a theoretical aspect, these changes in the cortical maps provide useful models for an understanding of the changes that can occur in the integrative functions of complex brain networks throughout life.