critical period (redirected from plastic period)

critical period

Etymology: Gk, kritikos, critical, peri, near, hodos, way

a period during a developmental or rehabilitation crisis. Examples are the brief period in which a zygote may be formed, in which a patient may survive a myocardial infarction, or when an embryo is most vulnerable to effects of medications used by the mother.

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period, critical 

A time after birth during which neural connections can still be modified by interference with normal visual experience or lesion of the visual pathway. If a person has an anomaly (e.g. amblyopia), the treatment is most likely to be effective during the earliest part of the critical period. In man it lasts up to about seven to eight years of age. If neural connections are impaired permanently during this period it will usually be impossible to repair later and the younger the child the more damaging it is. Example: binocularly sensitive cortical cells (stimulated by normal binocular vision) may never develop in uncorrected strabismus, or prolonged occlusion occurring during the critical period, especially before the age of three, and therefore the patient will not have binocular vision. Syn. plastic period. (However, this term relates more specifically to the time course during which the visual system is still responsive to treatment. This may differ from the critical period of development); sensitive period. See form-deprivation myopia; occlusion treatment.

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Patient discussion about plastic period.

Q. what is the most critical period of pregnancy where i should be more aware? to the environment , diet ... and things like that...

A. The most critical, is unfortunately, the period with the highest chances of the pregnancy not to be noticed - the first weeks of the pregnancy. During the first eight weeks of pregnancy the various organs of the body develop most substantially, also called organogenesis. This is considered the most sensitive period. However, the fetus may be sensitive to insults during the whole pregnancy, so other periods are not "safe".

you may read more here (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/birthdefects.html)