Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus Across the Life Span: Another View

From adolescence to six decades later, neurogenesis persisted but angiogenesis and markers of neuroplasticity decreased in a postmortem study.

In a recent study of hippocampal neurogenesis across the lifespan, little evidence was found for new progenitor or mature neurons after age 7 in samples that included surgical resections from epilepsy patients (NEJM JW Psychiatry May 2018 and Nature 2018; 555:377). In a new study, researchers examined only postmortem hippocampal tissue from 28 carefully selected people (17 males) aged 14 to 79.

For all cases, toxicology was negative for alcohol or substances of abuse; histories were negative for any psychiatry or cognitive disorders, and adverse life events were few in the 3 months before death, based on family-provided detailed neuropsychiatric, medical, and cognitive information, via standardized scales for postmortem measurements.

The rese…

Reviewing Author

Barbara Geller, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Barbara Geller, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus Across the Life Span: Another View

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Reviewing Author