Development & Plasticity · The Connected Story
Follow the 21 small concepts in order; each explains what changes, why it happens, and what it connects to.
Big Picture
The brain develops through coordinated growth and experience. Even after injury, intact circuits may compensate, reorganize, or sometimes produce unwanted effects.
NEURAL TUBE → PROLIFERATION → MIGRATION → DIFFERENTIATION → MYELINATION → SYNAPTOGENESIS → EXPERIENCE / PRUNING → ADULT PLASTICITY
4.2 · Development
Building a Nervous System
Five stages, guidance, survival, pruning, early experience and vulnerability.
4.3 · Plasticity
Changing an Established Brain
Sprouting, cortical remapping, stroke, phantom limbs, recovery and regeneration.
Bridge to earlier weeks: Axons and myelin (Week 3), synapses (Week 4), anatomy (Week 5), recording and MRI (Week 6), and visual experience (Week 8).
Teach → Understand → Connect
Open one lesson at a time. Each includes a plain-language explanation, course terminology, a process, and a Stop & Check with saved progress.
Visual Lab
See the stages, axon recovery, and stroke pathways. Test what happens next with interactive feedback.
Textbook & Slide Reference
Module 4.2: neural development, chemical guidance, experience and vulnerable periods. Module 4.3: response to damage, plasticity, training and regeneration. Open each lesson above for its professor slide numbers or transcript timestamp.
Chapter 4.2
19 supplied textbook pages · developmental stages and experience.
Chapter 4.3
9 supplied textbook pages · injury and plasticity.
Source integrity: All terms and practice questions are based on supplied Chapter 4.2–4.3 slides, textbook materials and available transcript. Study cues are labeled explanations, not quotations.
Small Flip Decks
Flip, explain, and mark Got It / Almost / Needs Review. Pick several three-card groups or review missed items.
Open Small Flip Decks →Multiple Choice Definition Decks
See a definition; choose the right course term from three choices, with immediate explanations.
Open Multiple Choice Decks →Ordered Mastery Cards
All Week 9 definitions and conceptual checkpoints in learning order. Search by term and save your confidence rating.
Open Week 9 Mastery Cards →Flashcards · Definitions
Explain before revealing; grade what you remembered.
Practice · Understand Why
Answer professor-style application questions with explanations.
Retrieve · From Memory
Say the answer without reading it, then check and rate your recall.
Test → Review Missed
Answer without feedback first. Submit for your score, explanations and missed questions; results go to Week 9 tracker.
Connections and Quick-Find Glossary
Week 3
Myelin, neural signaling and action potentials.
Week 4
Synaptic changes, glutamate, GABA and receptor sensitivity.
Week 6
Structural MRI versus stimulation and experiments.
Week 8
Visual sensitive periods and maps of sensory input.