Researchers at the University of Wyoming have made what they describe as a “breakthrough” in understanding how sensory experiences during early life promote the formation of fine connections in the brain, paving the way for development of interventions to treat disease and trauma…

“They have found that the sensory cortex, which is the part of the brain most responsive to environmental cues, undergoes drastic structural and physiological changes during a very short time period during postnatal development,” Sun says. “These large changes can occur within less than three days during a critical period in mouse development, which is equivalent to a few months in humans and primates.” …
“If we can understand how an enriched environment may accelerate brain maturation, we could theoretically design a drug that improves human intelligence. Similar drugs could also be used to treat neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease, or improve the memory capacity of normal individuals,” Sun says.

Source: Physorg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news80400003.html