The Adaptable Mind: What Neuroplasticity and Neural Reuse Tell Us about Language and Cognition - John Zerilli 2021

Scope of Chapter
Aspects of Neuroplasticity

This chapter reviews the general science of neuroplasticity with a focus on those aspects of relevance to the modularity of mind. The need for such a review stems ultimately from an interest in the implications of neuroplasticity, particularly for the understanding of early development. While not enough is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning neuroplasticity to warrant definite conclusions about development, tentative suggestions, grounded firmly in the available evidence, can and should be put forward. These form the subject of Chapter 6. The present chapter provides for the most part only a précis of the evidence as it stands.