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Questioning human neurogenesis

Neurons are born in the brain’s hippocampus throughout adulthood in mammals, contributing to the region’s functions in memory and mood. But a study now questions whether this phenomenon really extends to humans.
  1. Jason S. Snyder

    1. Jason S. Snyder is in the Department of Psychology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada.

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Pick up any article on neuronal development in adulthood, and there is a good chance you will read that the birth of new neurons has been observed in the hippocampal region of the brain in every mammalian species examined, including humans. This idea underlies the view — widespread among neuroscientists — that analysis of such neurogenesis in animals can benefit our understanding of learning, emotional disorders and neurodegenerative disease in humans. But in a paper in Nature, Sorrells et al.1 report that, unlike in other mammals, the last new neurons in the human hippocampus are generated in childhood. These findings are certain to stir up controversy.

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Nature 555, 315-316 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-02629-3

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