Retroviruses can infect actively dividing neural progenitor cells in the hippocampus and spare non-dividing cells such as mature neurons. With this tool we can selectively label newly born neurons. We can infect neuronal precursor cells at various stages in development and look at a neuron’s morphology at certain ages. This…
Memory manipulation has become one of the most hotly pursued topics in neuroscience. After all, much or of who are is based on what we’ve learned, including memories that we can consciously recall as well as acquired desires and habits that can lead to problems like addiction. In rodents, we’ve known…
Previously, I wrote about new SFN data on the role for newborn neurons in regulating emotion. The second half of the SFN meeting rounded out the story because the bulk of the functional presentations focussed on the role of new neurons in that other, classic function of the hippocampus: memory.…