The brain both receives and gives itself form through cell death

Evidence

In an eloquently titled book, The Sculpture of the Living, Jean- Claude Ameisen insists that the brain, far from being, as was previously believed, an organ fully constituted at birth, simultaneously receives and gives itself form. ‘‘Cell death,’’ he writes, ‘‘is … a tool allowing the embryo to work out its form in its becoming, by an eliminative procedure that allies it with sculpture. — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 76

Categorization

• DEFINE: The key phrase ‘receives and gives itself form’ prefigures plasticity’s dual giving/receiving structure opposed to mere flexibility.
• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s goal of distinguishing plasticity (gives and receives form) from flexibility (only receives). Supports the ADDENDUM-adjacent core distinction.