Read the following Brain Briefing on adult neurogenesis from the Society for Neuroscience.
http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainBriefings_adult_neurogenesis
After reading you should add a comment to this blog post (see bottom of page for comment section) discussing your opinion of the article. You can address such questions as…
Did anything in it surprise you? Was it an interesting read? What are the implications for the future? etc…
You may also comment on other people’s comments. Unless, of course, you are the first to comment 
You must also summarize the article in 7 words. That’s right, 7 words. The summary should be as accurate and complete as possible, so be creative!
Be sure to put your name in the ‘name’ field so I know to whom the comment belongs.
19 Responses to “Adult Neurogenesis Reading”
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I thought it was surprising that most new nerve cells do not survive. Since the brain is such an important organ, I would think that producing new neurons would be a simple and fail proof process. This would insure that the brain could repair itself easily and continue to govern the body. But, new neurons need support from other cells, blood flow, and connection to other neurons, and a majority of them die within weeks.
Also, I thought it was interesting that production of new nerve cells is yet another body process inhibited by stress and facilitated by exercise. This article adds more evidence to a growing list supporting exercise and condemning stress.
7 word summary – Neurogenesis possible with support, connection, blood, learning.
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The fact that neurogenesis is occurring does not shock me at all, seeing as I’m no expert when it comes to the brain…I hardly knew what it was. New articles concerning science, cures, and especially the brain further explains the fact that science is a discipline that is always changing. As quickly as scientists ascertain something, another study is proving them wrong or enhancing new discoveries.
I thought that this was a very interesting read. The author wrote that neurogenesis can help “keep our minds and memories sharp.” It definitely provides hope for cures such as Alzheimer’s, which is the seventh highest cause of death in the US.
Erin– I liked what you wrote about exercise and stress. It is so true.
I’m still not sure I understand why these new neurons are dying. Is the article suggesting continual learning must occur?
Seven-word summary — Neurogenesis possible, known location, inhibitors and stimulators
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Neurogenesis is an act of the body that surprised me, as it said earlier in the article it was precedent to believe that once the brain matures there are no new neuron made. This realization that there is in fact a way to produce new neuron consistently is quite fascinating. As the article touched upon and so did Rachel with neurogenesis scientists could help cure Alzheimer’s and many brain diseases that affect mankind. The article made an interesting read because it talked about the endless possibilities that can be achieved through neurogenesis. It was also interesting to learn that for the longest time this was happening in our bodies but it was undetectable. Therefore to look to the future I can assume that there needs to be a lot more studying of neurogenesis to be able to fully understand and integrate it into a cure.
Seven Word summary – Neurogenesis, new neurons, harnessed/applied by learning.
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I was surprised to learn that Neurogenesis evolved from the examination of a bird only 20 years ago. Also, I wonder what factors determine the functions of new neurons and if there is a way to manipulate the hypothalamus into producing more beta endorphin without exercise.
Summary – Neurogenesis rate, determining factors, target regions, applications
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@Erin – It is interesting that the brain has apparently decided that it is better to just make a whole bunch of neurons and destroy the ones not being used. It is known as ‘pruning’.
@Rachel – you are so right – science is updating itself all the time. And this shows that there is no reason why we can’t continue to learn and remember into old age, although Alzheimers deals with some abnormalities that we will discuss in class.
@Raj – thankfully, new technologies are allowing us to detect the previously ‘undetectable’.
@Jaymin – I think it is very interesting that studying birds could lead to a huge change in the way we see the human brain. It shows why all research has value.
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What intrigues me about this article is that the human body has been an object of study since the beginning of mankind, yet we are still learning groundbreaking new information. The concept of neurogenisis is not surprising because it makes sense to me that as some neuron cells die, more are being produced. One might refute the idea because of the way elderly peoples’ brains seem to deteriorate, but this may be linked to their lack of physical activity and learning new things, which compliments neurogenisis.
SUMMARY: neurogenisis possible with support, excercise, beta-endorphin
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@Sonal – The exercise thing is particularly interesting. The fact that physical exercise can stimulate new neuron production is very cool. And you are right, most elderly dementia is reversible if people just exercise both their body and their brain.
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I was really surprised that neurons can regenerate. I always believed that they were gone once they died. Learning that our bodies can form new neurons is intriguing. It was also amazing that songbirds learning new songs sparked the idea for the possibility of neurogenesis. Who would have thought that such a cute little creature would open the door for such a major scientific discovery?
It made sense to me that neurogenesis is helped by exercise and learning because those things are known to benefit the body. Also, the idea that stress inhibits neurogenesis makes sense because stress is generally negative.
I found this article extremely interesting. What our body is able to do always amazes me. I feel that what we know about our bodies is only a fraction of what can be learned.
I am fascinated by the future implications of neurogenesis, such as the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Several people that I know have Alzheimer’s, or a fading memory, and I would enjoy seeing a cure/treatment.
Seven-word summary: Neurogenesis can occur with support, learning, exercise.
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There seems to be something missing here. If neurons have always been able been able to regenerate, why is it that brain damage is so darn hard to fix? I guess they don’t regenerate as easily as other things, or else maybe when certain neurons are damaged, other neurons might regenerate, but these new neurons just make new, difference circuits (as the article suggests) instead of substituting for the damaged neurons. Also, I know that so many studies show that exercise is good for the brain, but then why does the stereotypical nerd (allegedly smart) not exercise? How does that one work?
Summary: Adults make neurons. Exercise helps. Now what?
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Oh. I thought damaged nerves couldn’t be fixed. Oops.
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A few things we need to be careful of here…
1. Neurogenesis is not the same thing as neural regeneration. We have known for quite some time that a damaged nerve can regenerate and work again. What we did not know was that the brain produced NEW neurons (neurogenesis). Several of you are using the terms interchangeably, and they are not.
2. We currently only know of a few places where neurogenesis happens, so we can’t assume it happens everywhere in the brain. Although, if it does, then Anna is right, brain damage might be ‘easier’ to fix than we originally thought.
3. A lot of ‘nerds’ actually do exercise – both their brain and their body. As Anna said, the opposing thought is just being stereotypical.
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I was surprised to learn that research on songbirds learning new songs led to this monumental discovery. This article further proves the fact that science is always changing and things we believed were false can actually be the truth. It makes sense that exercise and learning promotes neurogenesis because those things were known to help strengthen our mind in the past. I was wondering if neurogenesis could be responsible for why some people who have suffered traumatic brain injury can miraculously come out of comas years later.
summary: nuerogenesis possible in hippocampus with support, exercise
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Wow, what an interesting thought regarding the coma patients
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Well, I didn’t know alot about cells and regeneration and creation before, but the creation of new neurons and other cells just makes sense to me. I am probably missing alot of information but how would a person keep retaining more and more information without the creation of new cells to help hold that information? What I did find interesting was that any random study can result in the discovery of something that you might not even be looking for.
SUMMARY: birds prove neurogenesis exists with neural activity.
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We ‘hold’ new information by making new connections between neurons we already have. These neurons can grow new parts (dendrites and axon terminals) and can connect to thousands of other neurons if necessary. Furthermore, disuse will breakdown these connections and you will lose that memory/ability. But this is what we will be learning about in class so you won’t be “missing alot of information.”
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This is interesting as I have always thought neurons could not be produced and once gone, there would be no replacements. So how many of those cells produced actually survive as the article says “more [neurons] die than survive.” And is the solution for preventing these deaths (by helping the neurons connect with other neurons) learning and exercise? That’s like training your muscles — the more you work out/learn, the stronger it becomes. Or is it because the adult brain, like any other adult body part, weakens with age (leading to weaker connections between neurons)?
It’s great to know that there’s hope for finding a treatment to all the brain-related diseases, disorders, damages, etc; however, as cynical as this may seem, it might be possible that once neurogenesis is further explored, companies might try to sell to consumers a new way to make humans smarter — using neurogenesis and increasing the amount of neurons in a brain (whether it is through pills or surgery, etc.).
Summary: Neurogenesis: Generating neurons retained by learning/exercising = hope.
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I think you can count on companies trying to monetize this. And people will buy, buy, buy – just like weight loss pills – trying to do it the ‘easy way’. And your summary breaks the rules a little with 8 words and a symbol.
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I was suprised to find that neurogenesis occurs, and I was also very suprised to read what Dr. Fleetwood wrote about elderly dementia being reversible with exercise (of body and mind). The article was interesting to read, especially the part about exercise contributing to neurogenesis. The fact that scientists can conduct experiments like the ones described in the article is amazing to me. It’s exciting that their findings can potentially help treat so many different conditions.
Summary: Neurogenesis possible, linked to learning and exercise.
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Well, this was certainly an enlightening read. For the longest time I believed that neurons were simply irreplaceable, as the article mentioned, but it seems science has blown that misconception out of the water so to speak. This new discovery could very well advance treatments and cures for ailments concerning the brain and head traumas as the article and previous classmates mentioned. Additionally, I find it amazing that, once again, stress and exercise are factors involved in another process performed in the body.
Summary: Hope for new treatments due to neurogenesis.
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