Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Vice-Chair, Neurology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital
Se Hoon Choi 1 2 , Rudolph E Tanzi 1 2 Affiliations collapse Affiliations
1 Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA. 2 McCance Center for Brain Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. PMID: 36748337 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23504 Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of age-related dementia, characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive disturbances. The hippocampus, where adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN), a relatively novel form of brain plasticity that refers to the birth of new neurons, occurs, is one of the first brain regions to be affected in AD patients. Recent studies showed that AHN persists throughout life in humans, but it drops sharply in AD patients. Next questions to consider would be whether AHN impairment is a contributing factor to learning and memory impairment in AD and whether restoring AHN could ameliorate or delay cognitive dysfunction. Here, we outline and discuss the current knowledge about the state of AHN in AD patients, AHN impairment as a potentially relevant mechanism underlying memory deficits in AD, therapeutic potential of activating AHN in AD, and the mechanisms of AHN impairment in AD.