ABSTRACT
The awareness of phenotypic plasticity began to emerge in antiquity, when the notion that a person's physical performance could be improved by physical training became widespread: exercised muscles responded to the stimulation and remodeled to improve performance. With the introduction of advanced technical tools, ranging from molecular biology to neuroimaging, it has proved possible to uncover some of the mechanisms that underpin postnatal functional and anatomical changes as well as the factors responsible for such changes. According to, every organism is the product of two apparently separate processes: robustness and plasticity. Whereas typically developed subjcts (TD) individuals rely primarily on information around eyes and eyebrows for face identification, several studies reported that Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) subjects used different strategies, relying mostly on information around the mouth/lower face region. In conclusion, increasing our understanding of phenotype plasticity, from molecules to behavior, can help us improve and repair human skills at different levels of anatomical, physiological and cognitive complexity.
