Individuals being high in their sensitivity to the environment: Are sensitive period changes in play?
Publication year
2024Source
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 159, (2024), pp. 105605, article 105605ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
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Organization
Cognitive Neuroscience
PI Group MR Techniques in Brain Function
Journal title
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Volume
vol. 159
Page start
p. 105605
Subject
150 000 MR Techniques in Brain Function; Cognitive Neuroscience - Radboud University Medical Center - DCMNAbstract
All individuals on planet earth are sensitive to the environment, but some more than others. These individual differences in sensitivity to environments are seen across many animal species including humans, and can influence personalities as well as vulnerability and resilience to mental disorders. Yet, little is known about the underlying brain mechanisms. Key genes that contribute to individual differences in environmental sensitivity are the serotonin transporter, dopamine D4 receptor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor genes. By synthesizing neurodevelopmental findings of these genetic factors, and discussing them through the lens of mechanisms related to sensitive periods, which are phases of heightened neuronal plasticity during which a certain network is being finetuned by experiences, we propose that these genetic factors delay but extend postnatal sensitive periods. This may explain why sensitive individuals show behavioral features that are characteristic of a young brain state at the level of sensory information processing, such as reduced filtering or blockade of irrelevant information, resulting in a sensory processing system that 'keeps all options open'.
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Academic publications [245050]
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging [4019]
- Electronic publications [132309]
- Faculty of Medical Sciences [93209]
- Open Access publications [105918]
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