Fig. 3: Critical periods of plasticity—from infancy to adulthood—in sensory-motor systems, language, and social competence/ executive functioning.
From: Psychosis spectrum illnesses as disorders of prefrontal critical period plasticity
a Normal development. b Hypothesized hypoplasticity psychosis spectrum illness course—Low-level microcircuit anomalies and/or hypoplastic processes are present at birth, subtly affect sensory-motor and language development, accumulate over time, and worsen in adolescence and through adulthood. c Hypothesized hyperplasticity illness course—Subtle microcircuit dysfunction or hypoplasticity may be present prodromally (e.g., possibly manifesting during language development) but then cascades into cortical hyperexcitability and the sudden dysregulation/upregulation of cortical plasticity mechanisms during adolescence. Secondary hypoplasticity processes ensue. (Adapted with permission from ref. [142]).
