The human brain continues to produce New neurons also in advanced age: happens inhippocampusthe memory control unitwhere they were identified for the first time the neural progenitor cells. The result, which could have repercussions also on Fight against neurodegenerative diseasesis published in the journal Science by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
The same team led by Jonas Frisén had shown in 2013 That New neurons A brain region essential for learning and memory can be formed in adulthood at the level of the hippocampus and involved in the regulation of emotions. So far, however, convincing evidence had been found the existence of active neural progenitor cells capable of dividing into the adult brain. “Now we are able to identify these cells of originwhich confirms that New neurons form in the hippocampus of the adult brain“says Frisén.
His research group found the tests Analyzing samples of brain tissue Of people aged Between 0 and 78 yearscoming from different international biobes. Specifically, a method called has been used Single nucleus sequencingThat Analyze the gene activity in the individual cell nucleitogether with the flow cytometrywhich allows you to study cell properties.
By reworking the data obtained with the help of automatic learning, they were identified several phases of neuronal developmentfrom cells stem to the immature neuronsmany of which were in the division phase. Further experiments have shown that the neo -transformed cells they were in the‘IPPOCAMPO areacall girowhich is important for the training from the memoryl‘learning and the cognitive flexibility. The researchers also discovered that some adults had many neural progenitor cells, while others had almost without, confirming a strong individual variability.
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