White matter damage impairs adaptive recovery more than cortical damage in an in silico model of activity-dependent plasticity.

Little is understood of how damaged white matter interacts with developmental plasticity. The authors propose that computational neuroscience methods are underused in this problem. In this article, they present a nondeterministic, in silico model of activity-dependent plasticity. Using this model, they compared the impact of neuronal cell loss or axonal dysfunction on the ability of the system to generate, maintain, and recover synapses. The results suggest the axonal dysfunction seen in white matter injury is a greater burden to adaptive plasticity and recovery than is the neuronal loss of cortical injury. Better understanding of the interaction between features of preterm brain injury and developmental plasticity is an essential component for improving recovery.