Newborn Neurons — Even in the Adult Aging Brain - are Critical for Memory

Newly generated, or newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus are critical for memory retrieval, according to a study led by Stony Brook University researchers published online in Nature Neuroscience. The functional role of newborn neurons in the brain is controversial, but in “Optical controlling reveals time-dependent roles for adult-born dentate granule cells,” the researchers 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 by the study’s lead investigator Shaoyu Ge, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior at Stony Brook University, and others 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 new optogenetic technique to control newborn neurons and test their function in the hippocampus, one of the regions of the brain that generates new neurons, even in the adult aging brain.

“Significant controversy has surrounded the functional role of newborn neurons in the adult brain,” said Dr. Ge. “We believe that our study results provide strong support to the idea that new neurons are important for contextual fear memory and spatial navigation memory, two essential aspects of memory and learning that are modified by experience.

“Our findings could also shed light on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions common to the adult aging brain, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.