8.6.3 Critical Periods in Development

• A young child who isn't exposed to language during their critical period may never fully develop linguistic skills
• What are critical periods in neural development characterized by?

  High sensitivity to environmental influences
• Environmental input is crucial during critical periods for shaping neuronal connections and circuits.
• What happens if a critical period is missed during neural development?

  Necessary pathways may not develop
• Critical periods are irreversible, while sensitive periods are reversible to some extent.
• Why are critical periods essential for the development of the nervous system?

  Wiring up sensory, motor, and cognitive circuits
• Young children learn languages more easily during their language critical period
• Order the processes involved in synaptic plasticity during critical periods:

  1️⃣ Long-term potentiation (LTP)

  2️⃣ Long-term depression (LTD)

  3️⃣ Synaptic pruning
• What is the role of epigenetic modifications during critical periods?

  Regulate gene expression
• Histone deacetylation reduces protein synthesis during synaptic pruning.
• Critical periods are essential for the development of the nervous system
• Which sensory pathways develop during critical periods?

  Visual, auditory, tactile
• Language acquisition is a key cognitive process influenced by critical periods
• Young children learn languages more easily during their language critical period.
• What is essential for proper vision development during early infancy?

  Exposure to light
• Critical periods are specific and irreversible
• Sensitive periods are flexible and reversible to some extent.
• Match the feature with the correct period:

  Sensitivity ↔️ Highest in critical periods

  Impact ↔️ Profound and lasting in critical periods

  Reversibility ↔️ Possible in sensitive periods
• When are critical periods in human development most responsive to environmental influences?

  Specific times
• Critical periods involve synaptic plasticity and epigenetic modifications
• What are the two types of synaptic plasticity based on experience?

  LTP and LTD
• Epigenetic modifications alter the DNA sequence during critical periods.

  False
• Epigenetic modifications control the timing and duration of critical periods
• Match the mechanism with its function:

  Synaptic Plasticity ↔️ Strengthens or weakens neuronal connections

  Long-term Potentiation ↔️ Amplifies synaptic strength

  Long-term Depression ↔️ Reduces synaptic strength
• What can disruptions of critical periods lead to in sensory development?

  Vision impairments
• Deficits from critical period disruptions are irreversible and severe
• What is the process called when neural circuits are shaped by experience during critical periods?

  Experience-dependent plasticity
• Experience-dependent plasticity is essential for refining neural connections during critical periods.
• Critical periods in neural development are time frames when the nervous system is highly sensitive to environmental influences.
• How do critical periods differ from sensitive periods in reversibility?

  Critical periods are irreversible
• Order the functions influenced by critical periods from sensory to cognitive:

  1️⃣ Sensory: Vision, hearing, and tactile pathways

  2️⃣ Motor: Fine motor skills

  3️⃣ Cognitive: Language acquisition, abstract thought
• Early childhood is the key critical period for fluent language learning
• Critical periods are essential developmental phases when the nervous system is most sensitive to environmental stimuli
• Which sensory pathways are influenced by critical periods?

  Vision, hearing, tactile
• Early childhood is a critical period for fluent language learning.
• Exposure to light is necessary for proper visual development
• Missing critical periods can result in irreversible deficits.
• Critical periods are specific developmental phases when the brain is most responsive to environmental stimuli
• Match the developmental type with its critical period, consequences, and environmental need:

  Language Acquisition ↔️ Early childhood, Permanent language deficits, Rich linguistic environment

  Visual Development ↔️ Early infancy, Vision impairment, Exposure to light
• Synaptic plasticity includes long-term potentiation, which amplifies synaptic strength