Gender and strain influence on neurogenesis in dentate gyrus of young rats.

To investigate whether rat hippocampal neurogenesis varies with strain and gender, the authors examined proliferating progenitor cells and their progeny in young male and female Sprague-Dawley (SD) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) using the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) combined with immunohistochemistry for the neuronal marker Calbindin D28k and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Rats were given 7 consecutive daily BrdU injections and were killed 1 day or 4 weeks later to allow for discrimination between proliferation and cell survival. Stereologic analysis of the numbers of BrdU-immunoreactive cells in the dentate gyrus revealed both a strain difference with significantly higher cell proliferation and net neurogenesis in SHR than in SD and a gender difference with males from both strains producing significantly more cells than their female counterparts. Whereas the number of progenitors four weeks after BrdU injections was still significantly greater in male than in female SHRs, resulting in a greater net neurogenesis in the male, the number of BrdU-immunoreactive cells did not differ between male and female SD rats, suggesting a greater survival of newly generated cells in the dentate gyrus in female than in male SD rats. No sex or strain difference was observed in the relative ratio of neurogenesis and gliogenesis.

Enriched environment increases neurogenesis in the adult rat dentate gyrus and improves spatial memory.

The fetal and even the young brain possesses a considerable degree of plasticity. The plasticity and rate of neurogenesis in the adult brain is much less pronounced. The present study was conducted to investigate whether housing conditions affect neurogenesis, learning, and memory in adult rats. Three-month-old rats housed either in isolation or in an enriched environment were injected intraperitoneally with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) to detect proliferation among progenitor cells and to follow their fate in the dentate gyrus. The rats were sacrificed either 1 day or 4 weeks after BrdU injections. This experimental paradigm allows for discrimination between proliferative effects and survival effects on the newborn progenitors elicited by different housing conditions. The number of newborn cells in the dentate gyrus was not altered 1 day after BrdU injections. In contrast, the number of surviving progenitors 1 month after BrdU injections was markedly increased in animals housed in an enriched environment. The relative ratio of neurogenesis and gliogenesis was not affected by environmental conditions, as estimated by double-labeling immunofluorescence staining with antibodies against BrdU and either the neuronal marker calbindin D28k or the glial marker GFAp, resulting in a net increase in neurogenesis in animals housed in an enriched environment. Furthermore, we show that adult rats housed in an enriched environment show improved performance in a spatial learning test. The results suggest that environmental cues can enhance neurogenesis in the adult hippocampal region, which is associated with improved spatial memory.

Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus.

The genesis of new cells, including neurons, in the adult human brain has not yet been demonstrated. This study was undertaken to investigate whether neurogenesis occurs in the adult human brain, in regions previously identified as neurogenic in adult rodents and monkeys. Human brain tissue was obtained postmortem from patients who had been treated with the thymidine analog, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), that labels DNA during the S phase. Using immunofluorescent labeling for BrdU and for one of the neuronal markers, NeuN, calbindin or neuron specific enolase (NSE), we demonstrate that new neurons, as defined by these markers, are generated from dividing progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus of adult humans. Our results further indicate that the human hippocampus retains its ability to generate neurons throughout life.

How effective is integration of information from muscle afferents in spinal pathways?

Integration of information forwarded by group I and group II muscle afferents to premotor interneurones was estimated from spatial facilitation in oligosynaptic (most likely disynaptic) reflex pathways from these afferents. Indications for mutual facilitation of synaptic actions of group I and group II afferents have been found on both inhibitory and excitatory premotor interneurones but were easier to demonstrate in the inhibitory pathways. However, the facilitation appeared weak under our experimental conditions and depended critically upon the intensity and timing of the stimuli used to activate muscle afferents.