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Cited by 286Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 218 of the 218 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Sensitive periods in human social development: New insights from research on oxytocin, synchrony, and high-risk parenting

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Feldman, Ruth·2015·Development and Psychopathology
DOI 10.1017/s0954579415000048
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Abstract

Sensitive periods (SP) in behavioral development appeared in the biological sciences during the first decade of the 20th century, and research in animal models beginning in the 1950s provide terminology and evidence for SP effects. This paper proposes a rigorous program for human SP research and argues that the complexity of the human brain and variability of the human ecology necessitate that SP effects must be studied in humans, employ longitudinal designs starting at birth, test mechanism-based hypotheses based on animal studies that manipulate early environments, and utilize high-risk conditions as “natural experiments.” In light of research on the molecular basis of critical periods and their sequential cascades, it is proposed that the oxytocin (OT) system, an ancient and integrative system that cross-talks with the stress, reward, immune, and brain stem mediated homeostatic systems and supports mammalian sociality, plays a unique role in experience-dependent plasticity that buttresses SP effects due to its (a) dendritic mode of release leading to autoregulated functioning primed by early experience, (b) pulsatile pattern of activity, and (c) special role in neural plasticity at the molecular and network assembly levels. Synchrony, the coordination of biology and behavior during social contact, is suggested as a mechanism by which SP exert their effect on OT functionality, the social brain, and adult sociality. Findings from four high-risk birth cohorts, each followed repeatedly from birth to 10 years, provide unique “natural experiments” for human SP research based on specific programs in animal models. These include prematurity (maternal proximity), multiple birth (peer rearing), postpartum depression (low licking and grooming), and chronic unpredictable trauma (maternal rotation, variable foraging demands). In each cohort, hypotheses are based on the missing environmental component during SP, and findings on social synchrony, OT functionality, stress response, emotion regulation, and mental health accord with the multilevel and dynamic principles of developmental psychopathology. The results on the potential for reparation versus chronicity following early deprivation highlight a flexible conceptualization of resilience based on human SP research. Consideration of SP effects at the molecular, endocrine, brain, and behavioral levels and in relation to the neural plasticity and multifinality of human social functions may assist in fine-tuning early detection and the construction of targeted individualized interventions.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Kim, 2010, NIH Public Access, 13, 662
  2. Hofer, 1995, Hidden regulators, Attachment Theory: Social, Developmental and Clinical Perspectives, 59, 203
  3. Lorenz, 1950, Physiological mechanisms in animal behaviour

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Metadata

Authors
Feldman, R.
Affiliations
Bar-Ilan University (IL)
Corresponding author
Feldman, Ruth
ORCID
Feldman, Ruth
Venue
Development and Psychopathology
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2015-05
Volume
27
Issue
2
Pages
369-395
ISSN
  • 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2198
DOI
10.1017/s0954579415000048
OpenAlex
W1924288196
Cited by
271
References
216
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 11
FWCI
3.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 5 d)
Locations
  • Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
Keywords
sensitive period, critical period, oxytocin, social synchrony, preterm birth, multiple births, postpartum depression, chronic unpredictable mild stress, social brain, neuroplasticity, developmental psychopathology, resilience, early deprivation, social development (developmental psychology), natural experiment
MeSH terms
Adult, Animals, Brain, Critical Period, Psychological, Female, Humans, Neuronal Plasticity, Oxytocin, Play and Playthings, Social Behavior, Parenting

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