Is Being Plastic Fantastic? Mechanisms of Altered Plasticity After Developmental Traumatic Brain Injury

Overview

Journal Dev Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2006 Sep 1

PMID 16943660

Citations 73

Authors

Christopher C Giza

Mayumi L Prins

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is predominantly a clinical problem of young persons, resulting in chronic cognitive and behavioral deficits. Specifically, the physiological response to a diffuse biomechanical injury in a maturing brain can clearly alter normal neuroplasticity. To properly evaluate and investigate developmental TBI requires an understanding of normal principles of cerebral maturation, as well as a consideration of experience-dependent changes. Changes in neuroplasticity may occur through many age-specific processes, and our understanding of these responses at a basic neuroscience level is only beginning. In this article, we will particularly discuss mechanisms of TBI-induced altered developmental plasticity such as altered neurotransmission, distinct molecular responses, cell death, perturbations in neuronal connectivity, experience-dependent 'good plasticity' enhancements and chronic 'bad plasticity' sequelae. From this summary, we can conclude that 'young is not always better' and that the developing brain manifests several crucial vulnerabilities to TBI.

Citing Articles

Using neuroimaging to identify sex differences in adults with sports-related concussion: a systematic review.

Macleod H, Smith C, Laycock R Brain Imaging Behav. 2025; .

PMID: 39853628 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-025-00970-6.

Pediatric Neurotrauma: Closing the Gaps.

Baalaaji M Indian J Crit Care Med. 2025; 29(1):8-9.

PMID: 39802258 PMC: 11719541. DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-24886.

Neuroregeneration Improved by Sodium-D,L-Beta-Hydroxybutyrate in Primary Neuronal Cultures.

Ari C, DAgostino D, Cha B Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2024; 17(9).

PMID: 39338322 PMC: 11435142. DOI: 10.3390/ph17091160.

Endocannabinoid-mediated rescue of somatosensory cortex activity, plasticity and related behaviors following an early in life concussion.

Badaut J, Hippauf L, Malinconi M, Noarbe B, Obenaus A, Dubois C bioRxiv. 2024; .

PMID: 38352553 PMC: 10862852. DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.30.577914.

Intelligence and executive function are associated with age at insult, time post-insult, and disability following chronic pediatric acquired brain injury.

Brandt A, Ro T, Finnanger T, Hypher R, Lien E, Lund B Front Neurol. 2024; 14:1192623.

PMID: 38249741 PMC: 10796693. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1192623.

References

Ikonomidou C, Mosinger J, Salles K, Labruyere J, Olney J . Sensitivity of the developing rat brain to hypobaric/ischemic damage parallels sensitivity to N-methyl-aspartate neurotoxicity. J Neurosci. 1989; 9(8):2809-18. PMC: 6569702. View

Griesbach G, Hovda D, Molteni R, Gomez-Pinilla F . Alterations in BDNF and synapsin I within the occipital cortex and hippocampus after mild traumatic brain injury in the developing rat: reflections of injury-induced neuroplasticity. J Neurotrauma. 2002; 19(7):803-14. DOI: 10.1089/08977150260190401. View

Venable N, PINTO-HAMUY T, Arraztoa J, Contador M, Chellew A, Peran C . Greater efficacy of preweaning than postweaning environmental enrichment on maze learning in adult rats. Behav Brain Res. 1988; 31(1):89-92. DOI: 10.1016/0166-4328(88)90162-3. View

Hensch T, Fagiolini M, Mataga N, Stryker M, Baekkeskov S, Kash S . Local GABA circuit control of experience-dependent plasticity in developing visual cortex. Science. 1998; 282(5393):1504-8. PMC: 2851625. DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5393.1504. View

Roberts E, Ramoa A . Enhanced NR2A subunit expression and decreased NMDA receptor decay time at the onset of ocular dominance plasticity in the ferret. J Neurophysiol. 1999; 81(5):2587-91. DOI: 10.1152/jn.1999.81.5.2587. View

Levin H, Aldrich E, Saydjari C, Eisenberg H, Foulkes M, Bellefleur M . Severe head injury in children: experience of the Traumatic Coma Data Bank. Neurosurgery. 1992; 31(3):435-43; discussion 443-4. DOI: 10.1227/00006123-199209000-00008. View

Giza C, Griesbach G, Hovda D . Effects of enriched environment and fluid percussion injury on dendritic arborization within the cerebral cortex of the developing rat. J Neurotrauma. 2002; 19(5):573-85. DOI: 10.1089/089771502753754055. View

Quinlan E, Philpot B, Huganir R, Bear M . Rapid, experience-dependent expression of synaptic NMDA receptors in visual cortex in vivo. Nat Neurosci. 1999; 2(4):352-7. DOI: 10.1038/7263. View

Prins M, Giza C . Induction of monocarboxylate transporter 2 expression and ketone transport following traumatic brain injury in juvenile and adult rats. Dev Neurosci. 2006; 28(4-5):447-56. DOI: 10.1159/000094170. View

10.

Phillips L, Lyeth B, Hamm R, Povlishock J . Combined fluid percussion brain injury and entorhinal cortical lesion: a model for assessing the interaction between neuroexcitation and deafferentation. J Neurotrauma. 1994; 11(6):641-56. DOI: 10.1089/neu.1994.11.641. View

11.

Sankar R, Shin D, Liu H, Mazarati A, de Vasconcelos A, Wasterlain C . Patterns of status epilepticus-induced neuronal injury during development and long-term consequences. J Neurosci. 1998; 18(20):8382-93. PMC: 6792849. View

12.

Dixon C, Ma X, Marion D . Reduced evoked release of acetylcholine in the rodent neocortex following traumatic brain injury. Brain Res. 1997; 749(1):127-30. DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(96)01310-8. View

13.

Faden A, Demediuk P, Panter S, Vink R . The role of excitatory amino acids and NMDA receptors in traumatic brain injury. Science. 1989; 244(4906):798-800. DOI: 10.1126/science.2567056. View

14.

Gurkoff G, Giza C, Hovda D . Lateral fluid percussion injury in the developing rat causes an acute, mild behavioral dysfunction in the absence of significant cell death. Brain Res. 2006; 1077(1):24-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.01.011. View

15.

Dixon C, Kochanek P, Yan H, Schiding J, Griffith R, Baum E . One-year study of spatial memory performance, brain morphology, and cholinergic markers after moderate controlled cortical impact in rats. J Neurotrauma. 1999; 16(2):109-22. DOI: 10.1089/neu.1999.16.109. View

16.

Shao L, Ciallella J, Yan H, Ma X, Wolfson B, Marion D . Differential effects of traumatic brain injury on vesicular acetylcholine transporter and M2 muscarinic receptor mRNA and protein in rat. J Neurotrauma. 1999; 16(7):555-66. DOI: 10.1089/neu.1999.16.555. View

17.

Kolb B, Petrie B, Cioe J . Recovery from early cortical damage in rats, VII. Comparison of the behavioural and anatomical effects of medial prefrontal lesions at different ages of neural maturation. Behav Brain Res. 1996; 79(1-2):1-14. DOI: 10.1016/0166-4328(95)00254-5. View

18.

Griesbach G, Hovda D, Molteni R, Wu A, Gomez-Pinilla F . Voluntary exercise following traumatic brain injury: brain-derived neurotrophic factor upregulation and recovery of function. Neuroscience. 2004; 125(1):129-39. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2004.01.030. View

19.

DAmbrosio R, Fairbanks J, Fender J, Born D, Doyle D, Miller J . Post-traumatic epilepsy following fluid percussion injury in the rat. Brain. 2003; 127(Pt 2):304-14. PMC: 2680006. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awh038. View

20.

Golarai G, Greenwood A, Feeney D, Connor J . Physiological and structural evidence for hippocampal involvement in persistent seizure susceptibility after traumatic brain injury. J Neurosci. 2001; 21(21):8523-37. PMC: 6762822. View