# Interactive specialization > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Interactive_specialization > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Interactive_specialization.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_specialization > Source revision: 1309521222 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Theory of brain development **Interactive Specialization** is a theory of brain development proposed by the British developmental cognitive neuroscientist [Mark Johnson](/source/Mark_H._Johnson_(professor)), formerly head of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development[1] at [Birkbeck, University of London](/source/Birkbeck%2C_University_of_London), London and who is now Head of Psychology at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge). In his book *Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience* ,[2] Johnson contrasts two views of development. According to the first, the maturational hypothesis, the relationship between structure and function (i.e. which parts of the brain perform a particular task) is static, and specific cognitive skills come “on-line” as the cortical circuitry intrinsic to a particular task matures. Johnson likens this to a "mosaic" view of development. According to the second, the Interactive Specialization (IS) [2] [3] hypothesis, development is not a unidirectional maturational process, but rather a set of complex, dynamic and back-propagated interactions between genetics, brain, body and environment. Development is not a simple question of a brain being built according to a pre-specified genetic blueprint - rather, the components of the brain are interacting with each other constantly - even prenatally, when patterns of spontaneous firing of cells in the eyes (before they have opened) transmit signals that appear to help develop the layered structure of the [lateral geniculate nucleus](/source/Lateral_geniculate_nucleus) .[4] The hypothesis has attracted increasing attention in recent years as a number of neuroimaging studies on younger children have provided data that appears to fit specific predictions made by Johnson's model [5] .[6] ## Influences In 1996, Johnson co-authored (with [Jeffrey Elman](/source/Jeffrey_Elman), [Annette Karmiloff-Smith](https://web.archive.org/web/20080307054027/http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/research/DNL/personalpages/annette.html), [Elizabeth Bates](/source/Elizabeth_Bates), Domenico Parisi, and Kim Plunkett), the book *[Rethinking Innateness](/source/Rethinking_Innateness)* [7] , which argues against a strong nativist (innate) view on development. Other key influences include [Gilbert Gottlieb](/source/Gilbert_Gottlieb)'s theory of Probabilistic Epigenesis ,[8] a framework that emphasizes the reciprocity and ubiquity of gene-environment interaction in the realization of all phenotypes, and work on developmental disorders by [Annette Karmiloff-Smith](/source/Annette_Karmiloff-Smith). ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Home | Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development"](http://www.cbcd.bbk.ac.uk/). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Johnson2005_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Johnson2005_2-1) Johnson, Mark (2005). *Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2nd Ed*. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4051-2629-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4051-2629-8). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Johnson, M.H. (2000). "Functional brain development in infants: Elements of an interactive specialization framework". *Child Development*. **71** (1): 75–81. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/1467-8624.00120](https://doi.org/10.1111%2F1467-8624.00120). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [10836560](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10836560). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** O'Leary D.D.M; Nakagawa Y. (2002). "Patterning centers, regulatory genes and extrinsic mechanisms controlling arealization of the neocortex". *Current Opinion in Neurobiology*. **12** (1): 14–25. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/S0959-4388(02)00285-4](https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0959-4388%2802%2900285-4). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [11861160](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11861160). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [15149973](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:15149973). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Redcay E.; Haist F.; Courchesne E. (2008). "Paper: Functional neuroimaging of speech perception during a pivotal period in language acquisition". *Developmental Science*. **11** (2): 237–252. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00674.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-7687.2008.00674.x). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [18333980](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18333980). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Amso D.; Casey B.J. (2006). "Paper: Beyond what develops when: neuroimaging may inform how cognition changes with development". *Current Directions in Psychological Science*. **15** (1): 24–28. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00400.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.0963-7214.2006.00400.x). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [16622362](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:16622362). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Elman, Jeffrey; et al. (1996). [*Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on Development*](https://archive.org/details/rethinkinginnate00elma). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-262-55030-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-262-55030-7). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Gottlieb, G., Lickliter, R. (2007). "FProbabilistic epigenesis". *Developmental Science*. **10** (1): 1–11. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00556.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-7687.2007.00556.x). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [17181692](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17181692).{{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list)) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Interactive specialization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_specialization) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_specialization?action=history)). 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