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Neural Stem Cells in Development, Adulthood and Disease pp 41–52Cite as

The Role of Adult-Born Dentate Granule Neurons in the Regulation of Mood

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Part of the book series: Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine ((STEMCELL))

Abstract

There is growing recognition that the dentate gyrus (DG) subregion of the hippocampus contributes to both cognition and regulation of mood. Because adult hippocampal neurogenesis provides a source of new neurons throughout life in mammals, it represents a unique form of neural plasticity that may be targeted to restore or rejuvenate DG functions when compromised, such as in different disease states and during normal ageing. In this review, we address whether the role of adult-born neurons in modulation of anxiety and depression-like behaviors is dependent on their proposed function in pattern separation. Towards this goal, we discuss evidence for adult-born neurons in pattern separation and mood regulation. We suggest that the functions of adult-born neurons in pattern separation may be particularly relevant for anxiety disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that antidepressants may engage both pattern separation-dependent and pattern separation-independent functions of adult-born neurons to produce therapeutic effects.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Kathleen McAvoy for comments on the manuscript. The work was supported by NIMH4R00MH086615-03, the Whitehall Foundation, the Ellison Medical Foundation (A.S), and Department of Psychiatry Funds (NG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN-Room 4242, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Nannan Guo, Jennifer Gatchel & Amar Sahay

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Nannan Guo, Jennifer Gatchel & Amar Sahay

  3. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Amar Sahay

  4. Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Amar Sahay

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  1. Nannan Guo
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  2. Jennifer Gatchel
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Correspondence to Amar Sahay .

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  1. Institute for Neuroscience & Physiology University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    H. Georg Kuhn

  2. Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Amelia J. Eisch

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Guo, N., Gatchel, J., Sahay, A. (2015). The Role of Adult-Born Dentate Granule Neurons in the Regulation of Mood. In: Kuhn, H., Eisch, A. (eds) Neural Stem Cells in Development, Adulthood and Disease. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1908-6_3

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