Newborn Neurons Are Critical for Memory, Even in the Adult Aging Brain

Stony Brook University researchers say that newly generated or newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus are critical for memory retrieval — that’s according to the Nov. 11 online edition of Nature Neuroscience. The functional role of newborn neurons in the brain is controversial, but in the study “Optical controlling reveals time-dependent roles for adult-born dentate granule cells,” scientists detail that by “silencing” newborn neurons, memory retrieval was impaired. The findings support the idea that the generation of new neurons in the brain may be crucial to normal learning and memory processes.

Previous research led by investigator Shaoyu Ge, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior at Stony Brook University, have demonstrated that newborn neurons form connections with existing neurons in the adult brain. To help determine the role of newborn neurons, Dr. Ge and colleagues devised a optogenetic technique to control newborn neurons and test their function in the hippocampus — a region of the brain that generates new neurons, even in the adult aging brain. For more information, click here to read the full release