Research on human brain changes during skill acquisition has revealed brain volume expansion in task-relevant areas. However, the large number of skills that humans acquire during ontogeny militates against plasticity as a perpetual process of volume growth. Building on animal models and available theories, we promote the expansion-renormalization model for plastic changes in humans. The model predicts an initial increase of gray matter structure, potentially reflecting growth of neural resources like neurons, synapses, and glial cells, which is followed by a selection process operating on this new tissue leading to a complete or partial return to baseline of the overall volume after selection has ended. The model sheds new light on available evidence and current debates and fosters the search for mechanistic explanations.

中文翻译：

---

技能习得过程中人脑结构的扩展和重新正常化


对技能习得过程中人脑变化的研究表明，任务相关区域的脑容量有所扩大。然而，人类在个体发育过程中获得的大量技能不利于可塑性作为体积增长的永久过程。基于动物模型和现有理论，我们推广人类可塑性变化的扩张-重整化模型。该模型预测灰质结构的初始增加，可能反映神经元、突触和神经胶质细胞等神经资源的增长，随后对该新组织进行选择过程，导致整体或部分恢复到基线选择结束后的音量。该模型为现有证据和当前争论提供了新的线索，并促进了对机械解释的探索。