Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is involved in anxiety-related behaviors.

Journal article

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is a unique example of structural plasticity, the functional role of which has been a matter of intense debate. New transgenic models have recently shown that neurogenesis participates in hippocampus-mediated learning. Here, we show that transgenic animals, in which adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been specifically impaired, exhibit a striking increase in anxiety-related behaviors. Our results indicate that neurogenesis plays an important role in the regulation of affective states and could be the target of new treatments for anxiety disorders.

Authors: Revest, J; Dupret, D; Koehl, M; Funk-Reiter, C; Grosjean, N

• Journal: Molecular psychiatry
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 959-967
• Publication date: 2009-10-01
• DOI: 10.1038/mp.2009.15
• EISSN: 1476-5578
• ISSN: 1359-4184
• Language: English
• Keywords: Doxycycline; Male; Chlordiazepoxide; Hippocampus; Depression; Neurogenesis; Neurons; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; Anxiety; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Cell Count; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Mice, Transgenic