Dynamics of Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Adult Humans (original) (raw)

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Dynamics of Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Adult Humans

Cell, Volume 153, Issue 6, Pages 1219-1227, Publication Date 6 June 2013
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.002

Kirsty L. Spalding

Olaf Bergmann

Kanar Alkass

Samuel Bernard

Mehran Salehpour

Hagen B. Huttner

Emil Boström

Isabelle Westerlund

Céline Vial

Bruce A. Buchholz

Göran Possnert

Deborah C. Mash

Henrik Druid

Jonas Frisén

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

Institut Camille Jordan, CNRS UMR 5208, University of Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Uppsala University, 751 20 Sweden

Department of Neurology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany

Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue L-397, Livermore, CA 94550, USA

Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA

Corresponding author

These authors contributed equally to this work

Summary

Adult-born hippocampal neurons are important for cognitive plasticity in rodents. There is evidence for hippocampal neurogenesis in adult humans, although whether its extent is sufficient to have functional significance has been questioned. We have assessed the generation of hippocampal cells in humans by measuring the concentration of nuclear-bomb-test-derived 14C in genomic DNA, and we present an integrated model of the cell turnover dynamics. We found that a large subpopulation of hippocampal neurons constituting one-third of the neurons is subject to exchange. In adult humans, 700 new neurons are added in each hippocampus per day, corresponding to an annual turnover of 1.75% of the neurons within the renewing fraction, with a modest decline during aging. We conclude that neurons are generated throughout adulthood and that the rates are comparable in middle-aged humans and mice, suggesting that adult hippocampal neurogenesis may contribute to human brain function.