Question

It appears that stimulation helps increase the growth of axonal and dendritic pathways. but is it possible that a “kind of diminishing return” phenomenon exists , say, for small children? is it possible that too much stimulation that forces rapid adaptive shifting ( like abuse) -actually impairs or impedes such growth?

Answer 1

Yes the above statement is true that too much stimulation that forces rapid adaptive shifting actually impairs or impedes axonal and dendritic growth because the pathway must split, in order to produce its divergent effects. Other experiments have shown that the Fos protein is a downstream effector of Wallenda. Here, inactivation of fos prevented axon terminal overgrowth when Wallenda was overexpressed, indicating it plays a key role in the axonal branch of the pathway and it damages this pathway.