Adult-born neurons promote cognitive flexibility by improving memory precision and indexing
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) is an extraordinary form of plasticity fundamental for cognitive flexibility. Recent evidence showed that newborn neurons differentially modulate input to the infra- and supra-pyramidal blades of the DG during the processing of spatial and contextual information, respectively. However, how this differential regulation by neurogenesis is translated into different aspects contributing cognitive flexibility is unclear. Here, we increased adult-born neurons by a genetic expansion of neural stem cells and studied their influence during navigational learning. We found that increased neurogenesis improved both memory precision and flexibility. Interestingly, each of these gains was associated with distinct subregional patterns of activity and better separation of memory representations in the DG-CA3 network. Our results highlight the role of adult-born neurons in promoting memory precision and indexing and suggests their anatomical allocation within specific DG-CA3 compartments, together contributing to cognitive flexibility.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1068-1079 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Hippocampus |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 10 |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2021 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 34174010 |
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ORCID | /0000-0002-5304-4061/work/142238792 |
Keywords
DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- cognitive flexibility, hippocampal neurogenesis, indexing, memory precision