A novel view of neurogenesis and memory encoding in the dentate gyrus

SCHINDER AF

Congreso; Simposio sobre Neurogenesis Adulta, XXIX Congreso Anual de la Soc. Arg. de Invest. Neurociencias (SAN), Córdoba; 2014

A novel view of neurogenesis and memory encoding in the dentate gyrusAlejandro F. SchinderNeuronal Plasticity LabLeloir Institute ? Buenos Aires ? Argentina aschinder@leloir.org.arThe adult brain contains self-renewing neural stem cells that generate neurons through life. Extensive evidence has demonstrated that adult neurogenesis is highly regulated by brain function and that it is involved in information processing in specific circuits. For instance, ablation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis can impair spatial learning. We are interested in the specific modifications of hippocampal circuits produced by the incorporation of newly generated dentate granule cells (GCs). The impact of adult-born GCs on hippocampal function is greatly determined by their number, intrinsic properties, connectivity, and synaptic properties. In recent years, we have combined different approaches to investigate how adult-born GCs connect within the preexisting hippocampal network, building a spatio-temporal map of input/output connectivity. It takes almost two months to transit the road from neural stem cell to fully mature neuron. During this long transition, developing GCs go through different phases with distinctive functional properties. Work by our lab and several other groups is converging into the notion that adult neurogenesis may serve as a mechanism for the continuous generation of new cohorts of young and very plastic neurons that integrate in the network in a manner that is shaped by ongoing experience. In my talk I will focus our most recent experimental data on how local microcircuits change by adult neurogenesis, discuss its implications in hippocampal function, and propose a novel conceptual model on how newborn GCs may contribute to memory encoding.