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Touch gives new life: mechanosensation modulates spinal cord adult neurogenesis

Molecular Psychiatry volume 16, pages 342–352 (2011)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 26 March 2012

Abstract

The ability to respond to a wide range of novel touch sensations and to habituate upon repeated exposures is fundamental for effective sensation. In this study we identified adult spinal cord neurogenesis as a potential novel player in the mechanism of tactile sensation. We demonstrate that a single exposure to a novel mechanosensory stimulus induced immediate proliferation of progenitor cells in the spinal dorsal horn, whereas repeated exposures to the same stimulus induced neuronal differentiation and survival. Most of the newly formed neurons differentiated toward a GABAergic fate. This touch-induced neurogenesis reflected the novelty of the stimuli, its diversity, as well as stimulus duration. Introducing adult neurogenesis as a potential mechanism of response to a novel stimulus and for habituation to repeated sensory exposures opens up potential new directions in treating hypersensitivity, pain and other mechanosensory disorders.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Shelley Schwarzbaum for editing the manuscript. MS holds the Maurice and Ilse Katz Professorial Chair in Neuroimmunology. This work was supported in part by the High Q foundation and by IsrALS (to MS).

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  1. M Schwartz and A Rolls: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    R Shechter, K Baruch & M Schwartz

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    A Rolls

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  1. R Shechter
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  2. K Baruch
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  3. M Schwartz
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  4. A Rolls
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Correspondence to M Schwartz.

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Shechter, R., Baruch, K., Schwartz, M. et al. Touch gives new life: mechanosensation modulates spinal cord adult neurogenesis. Mol Psychiatry 16, 342–352 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2010.116

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