Editing Adult neurogenesis (section)

===Role in learning===

The functional relevance of adult neurogenesis is uncertain,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kempermann G, Wiskott L, Gage FH |title=Functional significance of adult neurogenesis |journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology  |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=186–91 |date=April 2004  |pmid=15082323 |doi=10.1016/j.conb.2004.03.001 |s2cid=6241827 }}</ref> but there is some evidence that hippocampal adult neurogenesis is important for [[learning]] and [[memory]].<ref name="G. Neves 2008 65–75">{{cite journal|last1=G. Neves |author2=S.F. Cooke |author3=T.V. Bliss|year=2008|title=Synaptic plasticity, memory and the hippocampus: A neural network approach to causality|journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience|volume=9|pages=65–75|doi=10.1038/nrn2303|pmid=18094707|first1=G|issue=1|s2cid=33104731 }}</ref> Multiple mechanisms for the relationship between increased neurogenesis and improved cognition have been suggested, including computational theories to demonstrate that new neurons increase memory capacity,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Becker S |title=A computational principle for hippocampal learning and neurogenesis |journal=Hippocampus |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=722–38 |year=2005 |pmid=15986407 |doi=10.1002/hipo.20095 |s2cid=1316469 }}</ref> reduce interference between memories,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Wiskott L, Rasch MJ, Kempermann G |title=A functional hypothesis for adult hippocampal neurogenesis: avoidance of catastrophic interference in the dentate gyrus |journal=Hippocampus |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=329–43 |year=2006 |pmid=16435309 |doi=10.1002/hipo.20167 |citeseerx=10.1.1.408.8944 |s2cid=788860 }}</ref> or add information about time to memories.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Aimone JB, Wiles J, Gage FH |title=Potential role for adult neurogenesis in the encoding of time in new memories |journal=Nat. Neurosci. |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=723–7 |date=June 2006 |pmid=16732202 |doi=10.1038/nn1707 |s2cid=10586519 }}</ref> Given that the rate of the neurogenesis does not change substantially during the adulthood, it has been proposed that unique [[episodic memories]] can be created by simply relying on the increased capacity of the young neurons of a particular age to establish stable new [[synapses]] with peers representing the unique features of an event to be memorized <ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kovács KA | title = Episodic Memories: How do the Hippocampus and the Entorhinal Ring Attractors Cooperate to Create Them? | journal = Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience | volume = 14 | pages = 68 | date = September 2020 | doi = 10.3389/fnsys.2020.559186 | pmid = 33013334 | pmc = 7511719 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Experiments aimed at ablating neurogenesis have proven inconclusive, but several studies have proposed neurogenic-dependence in some types of learning,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Shors TJ, Townsend DA, Zhao M, Kozorovitskiy Y, Gould E |title=Neurogenesis may relate to some but not all types of hippocampal-dependent learning |journal=Hippocampus |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=578–84 |year=2002 |pmid=12440573 |doi=10.1002/hipo.10103 |pmc=3289536}}</ref> and others seeing no effect.<ref>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Meshi D, Drew MR, Saxe M, etal |title=Hippocampal neurogenesis is not required for behavioral effects of environmental enrichment |journal=Nat. Neurosci. |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=729–31 |date=June 2006 |pmid=16648847 |doi=10.1038/nn1696 |s2cid=11043203 }}</ref> Studies have demonstrated that the act of learning itself is associated with increased neuronal survival.<ref>{{harvnb|Gould|Beylin|Tanapat|Reeves|Shors|1999|pp=260–5}}</ref> However, the overall findings that adult neurogenesis is important for any kind of learning are equivocal.