Evidences for Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Humans.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and perspective article without a systematic review protocol or primary clinical trial data.
PubMed 33762406 · doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0675-20.2020
What was done
This Dual Perspectives review synthesized literature and methodological considerations regarding adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) in humans. The authors examined approaches used to birthdate newly generated neurons, validate markers of adult-born neurons in the dentate gyrus, and evaluated how postmortem human brain tissue processing and analytical protocols impact marker detectability.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values or statistical metrics. It qualitatively states that data support the continuation of AHN until the 10th decade of human life and show marked impairments of AHN in patients with Alzheimer's disease. It also reports that differences in postmortem tissue processing and analysis methods can diminish AHN marker signals to the point of being undetectable, which may account for conflicting findings in the literature.
Why it matters
Understanding whether neurogenesis persists throughout human adulthood is foundational for cognitive neuroscience and regenerative strategies in neurodegenerative disorders. This paper outlines the technical and methodological variables that may explain why previous postmortem studies have reached contradictory conclusions.
Limits
The abstract reports no primary quantitative data, sample sizes, or formal systematic review search criteria. Human postmortem studies rely heavily on histological markers that are susceptible to pre- and postmortem artifacts, tissue preservation differences, and variable postmortem intervals, leaving the functional significance and true rate of adult human neurogenesis contested.
Cited by
- supports Neurogenesis, the development of new brain cells, continues into older adulthood and does not completely stop at a certain age.