Adult hippocampal neurogenesis and aging

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Friederike Klempin - , Department of Dermatology, Allergy and Venereology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) (Author)
  • Gerd Kempermann - , Department of Dermatology, Allergy and Venereology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) (Author)

Abstract

The demographic changes in the foreseeable future stress the need for research on successful cognitive aging. Advancing age constitutes a primary risk factor for disease of the central nervous system most notably neurodegenerative disorders. The hippocampus is one of the brain regions that is prominently affected by neurodegeneration and functional decline even in what is still considered "normal aging". Plasticity is the basis for how the brain adapts to changes over time. The discovery of adult hippocampal neurogenesis has added a whole new dimension to research on structural plasticity in the adult and aging hippocampus. In this article, we briefly summarize and discuss recent findings on the regulation of adult neurogenesis with relevance to aging. Aging is an important co-variable for many regulatory mechanisms affecting adult neurogenesis but so far, only few studies have specifically addressed this interaction. We hypothesize that adult neurogenesis contributes to a neural reserve, i.e. the maintained potential for structural plasticity that allows compensation in situations of functional losses with aging. As such we propose that adult neurogenesis might contribute to the structural correlates of successful aging.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)271-280
Number of pages10
JournalEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience
Volume257
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2007
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 17401726
ORCID /0000-0002-5304-4061/work/152544188

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Dentate gyrus, Depression, Environmental enrichment, Physical activity, Precursor cell, Stem cell