Jobs for old brain's new neurons

Researchers have known for almost a decade that the linkurl:adult brain;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52849/ produces new neurons. But a new study appearing yesterday (August 31) online in Nature Neuroscience gets a better look at what adult neurogenesis in two regions of the brain is actually for. "I think the conclusions are really groundbreaking," linkurl:Barbara Beltz,;http://www.wellesley.edu/Biology/Faculty/barbspersonal/Barb_personal.htm#research neuroscientist at Wellesley College who was not involved in the study, told The Scientist. Previous studies have examined the behavioral effects of neurogenesis, but they've only looked at one region of the brain at a time, whereas this study was able to compare what is happening in the two brain regions, Beltz added. Adult neurogenesis occurs in two regions of the brain: The subventricular zone -- after which some neurons migrate to the olfactory bulb -- and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, which plays a role in spatial memory. The research team, led by linkurl:Ryoichiro Kageyama;http://www.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp/E/grad_school/introduction/1218/...