Plasticity here means sculpting a genetically determined form, not flexible change

Evidence

But if neuronal genesis corresponds to a ”pre-established plan,” why talk about plasticity in order to characterize this development? For two essential reasons, which, within the context of development, have to do with (1) establishing connections, a process we have just mentioned, and (2) modeling those connections (which ought not to be confused with the modulation of synaptic efficacy). In both cases, it is the execution of the genetic program that works in a plastic way. There is a sort of plastic art of the brain— hence the use of the term plasticity in this context. And it is here that the restrained or ”closed” signification of the concept has to be taken into account: the sculpting of a determinate form. — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 75

Categorization

• DEFINE: Crucially distinguishes developmental plasticity (sculpting of a determinate form, ‘closed’) from mere flexibility — exactly the substitution the reader wants to catch.
• XREF: The genetically programmed yet plastically executed brain development parallels the reader’s tree-infrastructure interest in how rigid structures still require adaptive execution. — connects to: A closed system’s openness to modification while transforming itself is plasticity — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1283