Adult neurogenesis

Neurogenesis occurs during embryonic development, and also in parts of the adult brain following birth.

This process, known as adult neurogenesis, was first recognised in the 1960s, although it took until the
1990s for the field as a whole to accept that neurogenesis in adult animals could play a substantial role in
brain function. Integral to this realisation was the discovery in 1992 by Professors Perry Bartlett and Linda
Richards that the adult mouse brain contains neural stem cells. Because stem cells can divide, and
differentiate into many types of cells, their discovery in adult brains suggested that neurogenesis could
hold the key to treating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Since then,
neurogenesis has also been found to occur in the hippocampi of adult humans, and more recently is has
been confirmed to occur in the amygdala.

Adult neurogenesis is known to occur in two regions in the mammalian brain:

 the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus, which is a region that is
involved in regulating learning and memory
 and the subventricular zone (SVZ), which is situated throughout the lateral walls of the brain’s
lateral ventricles (see figure below).
 A
coronal view of the adult human brain shows the lateral ventricles (LV) and the subventricular zone
(arrows), where adult neurogenesis occurs. (Image: Oscar Arias-Carrión / CC BY 2.0 via Commons)

What is the function of adult neurogenesis?

Neurons formed in the SVZ migrate to the olfactory bulb, which is the area of the brain responsible
for olfaction, our sense of smell. Preventing adult neurogenesis in the SVZ has been shown to impair
cognitive functions including olfactory memory.

Newborn neurons resulting from adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus play crucial roles in regulating
mood, memory and spatial learning. In 2015, neuroscientists discovered two distinct types of stem cells in
the hippocampus, suggesting that different areas in the hippocampus are responsible for controlling
spatial learning and mood.

Can adult neurogenesis be increased?

Research on the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus suggests that different factors can modulate adult
neurogenesis. QBI researchers, for example, have found that exercise increases neurogenesis in the
dentate gyrus, resulting in the increased production of newborn neurons.

Conversely, depression has been found to decrease neurogenesis, and adult neurogenesis has also
been shown to decline with age.
Neuroscientists are now interested in developing ways to harness the brain’s reservoir of neural stem
cells and progenitor cells to enhance hippocampal neurogenesis. By increasing production of newborn
neurons, neuroscientists may be able to treat age-associated cognitive decline, neurodegenerative
diseases including dementias, and mental illnesses.