PARTS of the brain are a work-in-progress, continuously churning out new cells – but why go to all that trouble? In mice at least, fresh brain cells are key to learning and memory.
“It was always unclear whether neurogenesis in the adult was essential for normal brain function. This shows that it is,” says Rodney Rietze of the Queensland Brain Institute in Brisbane, Australia.
Neurogenesis happens in all adult mammals, including humans, and Ryoichiro Kageyama of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues wanted to know why. They genetically altered mice so that when they took a drug, genes for proteins…
