Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Lifespan Development and the Brain
- PART ONE SETTING THE STAGE ACROSS THE AGES OF THE LIFESPAN
- PART TWO NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: MICROSTRUCTURE MEETS THE EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
- 3 Neurobehavioral Development in the Context of Biocultural Co-Constructivism
- 4 Adult Neurogenesis
- PART THREE NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: ATYPICAL BRAIN ARCHITECTURES
- PART FOUR BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS AND DOMAINS
- PART FIVE PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION IN LATER LIFE
- PART SIX BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: FROM MICRO- TO MACROENVIRONMENTS IN LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXTS
- PART SEVEN EPILOGUE
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- References
4 - Adult Neurogenesis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Lifespan Development and the Brain
- PART ONE SETTING THE STAGE ACROSS THE AGES OF THE LIFESPAN
- PART TWO NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: MICROSTRUCTURE MEETS THE EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
- 3 Neurobehavioral Development in the Context of Biocultural Co-Constructivism
- 4 Adult Neurogenesis
- PART THREE NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: ATYPICAL BRAIN ARCHITECTURES
- PART FOUR BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS AND DOMAINS
- PART FIVE PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION IN LATER LIFE
- PART SIX BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: FROM MICRO- TO MACROENVIRONMENTS IN LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXTS
- PART SEVEN EPILOGUE
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
ABSTRACT
Contrary to widely held belief, a small number of new neurons are generated in the adult brain and even in the aging brain. Although this adult neurogenesis is minute compared with the vast number of neurons in our brains, and although adult neurogenesis does not lead to substantial regeneration in cases of neuronal loss, the new neurons may serve an important function in learning and memory processes. Adult neurogenesis is neuronal development in nucleo and is controlled by genetic and environmental factors. It exemplifies that, throughout life, brain development is activity and experience dependent, and, more important, that it never ends.
INTRODUCTION
“Adult neurogenesis” is the generation of new nerve cells in the adult brain (Fig. 4.1), a process that was long believed to be impossible, although it occurs in both nonhuman primates (Gould et al., 1999) and humans (Eriksson et al., 1998). Today, adult neurogenesis has become a prime topic in biomedical research because of its implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and essentially all diseases that involve a loss of nerve cells (neurons). Because it is the stem cells residing in the adult brain from which new neurons originate in adult neurogenesis, many researchers believe that we might learn from adult neurogenesis how to “grow” stem cells into new neurons for transplantation – in cases of Parkinson's disease, for example (Bjorklund & Lindvall, 2000).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lifespan Development and the BrainThe Perspective of Biocultural Co-Constructivism, pp. 82 - 108Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
References
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