The DOI matches its Crossref record; 139 of the 139 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Experience and Brain Development
Abstract
This article considers how experience can influence the developing and mature brain and proposes a new categorization scheme based upon the type of information stored and the brain mechanisms that appear to be involved in storing it. In this scheme, experience-expectant information storage refers to incorporation of environmental information that is ubiquitous in the environment and common to all species members, such as the basic elements of pattern perception. Experience-expectant processes appear to have evolved as a neural preparation for incorporating specific information: in many sensory systems, synaptic connections between nerve cells are overproduced, and a subsequent selection process occurs in which aspects of sensory experience determine the pattern of connections that remains. Experience-dependent information storage refers to incorporation of environmental information that is idiosyncratic, or unique to the individual, such as learning about one's specific physical environment or vocabulary. The neural basis of experience-dependent processes appears to involve active formation of new synaptic connections in response to the events providing the information to be stored. Although these processes probably do not occur entirely independently of one another in development, the categories offer a new view more in accord with neural mechanisms than were terms like "critical" or "sensitive period."
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A long evolutionary history can lead to expected experiences and specialized mechanisms for adapting to these experiences.”
From Adolescence: what do transmission, transition and translation have to do with it? (2010) · cites this paper as Greenough et al., 1987
In the citing paper
“From this perspective, aberrant behavior is the result of a change in an evolutionally stable environment (experience-expectant) (Greenough et al., 1987).”
From Adolescence: what do transmission, transition and translation have to do with it? (2010) · cites this paper as Greenough et al., 1987
In the citing paper
“The human brain requires a wide variety of experiences and environmental inputs, some during sensitive periods, in order to develop normally.”
From Neglect as a violation of species-expectant experience: neurodevelopmental consequences (2017) · cites this paper as [1]
In the citing paper
“An over-production of synaptic connections early in development that are pruned as a function of experience provides the biological basis for experience-expectant learning.(1)”
From Neglect as a violation of species-expectant experience: neurodevelopmental consequences (2017) · cites this paper as [1]
In the citing paper
“Heightened plasticity of the brain in early life is a key feature of human development, and the infant brain relies upon environmental experiences in order to develop (Greenough et al, 1987).”
From Deviations from the expectable environment in early childhood and emerging psychopathology (2015) · cites this paper as Greenough et al, 1987
Citations
Cites
Hebb, D. O. (2005) · doi:10.4324/9781410612403 · Cited by 9,825
Bliss, T. V. P., & Gardner-Medwin, A. R. (1973) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010274 · Cited by 7,424
The period of susceptibility to the physiological effects of unilateral eye closure in kittens
Hubel, D. H., & Wiesel, T. N. (1970) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1970.sp009022 · Cited by 3,030
Werker, J. F., & Tees, R. C. (1984) · Infant Behavior and Development · doi:10.1016/s0163-6383(84)80022-3 · Cited by 2,801 · cited 1×
“At the behavioral level, a relevant human example may be the loss of perceived phonemic boundaries present in in&nts if the language to which they are exposed does not utilize them (Werker & Tees, 1984).”
BackgroundSynaptic density in human frontal cortex —Developmental changes and effects of aging
Peter R., H. (1979) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/0006-8993(79)90349-4 · Cited by 2,645
SINGLE-CELL RESPONSES IN STRIATE CORTEX OF KITTENS DEPRIVED OF VISION IN ONE EYE
Wiesel, T. N., & Hubel, D. H. (1963) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.1963.26.6.1003 · Cited by 2,628
Wiesel, T. N., & Hubel, D. H. (1965) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.1965.28.6.1029 · Cited by 1,598
Concurrent overproduction of synapses in diverse regions of the primate cerebral cortex
Rakic, P., Bourgeois, J.-P., Eckenhoff, M. F., Zecevic, N., & Goldman-Rakic, P. S. (1986) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.3952506 · Cited by 1,133
The development of ocular dominance columns in normal and visually deprived monkeys
Le Vay, S., Wiesel, T. N., & Hubel, D. H. (1980) · Journal of Comparative Neurology · doi:10.1002/cne.901910102 · Cited by 1,123
Modulation of visual cortical plasticity by acetylcholine and noradrenaline
Bear, M. F., & Singer, W. (1986) · Nature · doi:10.1038/320172a0 · Cited by 858
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1104_01 · Cited by 34,210
The adolescent brain and age-related behavioral manifestations
Spear, L. P. (2000) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/s0149-7634(00)00014-2 · Cited by 5,433
Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development
Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B., & Osher, D. (2020) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791 · Cited by 2,733
“One of earliest studies on the effect of the environment on brain development was the work of William Greenough and his colleagues (Greenough et al., 1987), who compared the brains of rats raised in “complex environments” containing toys and obstacles with those housed individually or in small…”
BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences, allostasis, allostatic load and age-related disease
Danese, A., & McEwen, B. S. (2012) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.08.019 · Cited by 2,140
The basics of brain development
Stiles, J., & Jernigan, T. L. (2010) · Neuropsychology Review · doi:10.1007/s11065-010-9148-4 · Cited by 2,009
Metadata
- Authors
- Greenough, W. T., Black, J. E., & Wallace, C. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- ORCID
- Black, James E.
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1987-06
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 539
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1968732298
- Semantic Scholar
- 77991efe4235377034d9c46a86305e2f4af2e703
- Cited by
- 1,398
- References
- 139
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 90 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 54 · 2015: 76 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 57 · 2012: 41
- FWCI
- 4.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- experience-dependent learning, brain development, synaptic pruning, pattern perception, critical period, sensitive period, neural mechanisms of learning, information storage, individual differences in learning
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Concept Formation, Dominance, Cerebral, Humans, Infant, Synaptic Transmission, Mental Recall, Spinal Cord, Visual Pathways
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Experience and Brain Development. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.2307/1130197
- The paper
- Greenough, W. T., Black, J. E., & Wallace, C. S. (1987). Experience and Brain Development. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130197
