Regulation of Adult Neurogenesis by Environment and Learning

Abstract

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is tightly linked to hippocampal function. This chapter covers the regulation of adult neurogenesis in response to either a relatively broad cognitive stimulus, an environmental enrichment, or specific learning situations. In contrast to more general behavioral stimuli, exemplified by voluntary wheel running, which induce precursor cell proliferation, such cognitive challenges promote the survival of newborn cells, presumably recruiting them for a specific function. Supposedly this function is closely related to the neuronal network, to which the new neurons are added; that is, the mossy fiber connection between the dentate gyrus, as the only location in which adult neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus, and CA3. The key idea is that activity-dependent regulation of adult neurogenesis allows lifelong optimization of the mossy fiber connection, presumably allowing the system to efficiently respond to novelty and complexity encountered by the individual.