ABOVE: Marking adult mouse hippocampal stem cells that express the protein marker GFAP+ and thymidine kinase allows researchers to kill the cells and observe the animals’ behavior when their brains no longer undergo neurogenesis. FLICKR, JASON SNYDER
In March 2018, researchers reported evidence suggesting that adult humans do not generate new neurons in the hippocampus—the brain’s epicenter of learning and memory. The result contradicted two decades of work that said human adults actually do grow new neurons there, and revealed a need for new and better tools to study neurogenesis, Salk Institute President Fred Gage, who generated foundational evidence for adult human neurogenesis, told The Scientist at the time.
Since that study was published, several other teams have used similar techniques—but have come to different conclusions, publishing evidence that adult humans do indeed grow new hippocampal neurons, even at the age of 99. Despite the equivocal results, Maura Boldrini, a ...
