Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Potential functions of adult hippocampal neurogenesis

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis has received a great deal of attention because it occurs within a neural structure critical for learning, memory, and modulation of affective behavior. Prevailing hypotheses about the function of adult hippocampal neurogenesis predict a unique role for developing neurons based largely on the observation that these cells undergo a critical period of plasticity, as we reported. Our studies have provided key evidence that newborn neurons are poised to receive afferent information and modify local circuitry based on the formation of functional GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses and identified fundamental properties that reveal the capacity of newborn neurons to contribute to hippocampal function at specific development stages. Using approaches we recently developed to record and manipulate newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus of behaving mouse, we are currently addressing how newborn neurons contribute to specific brain functions.