You are currently viewing the summary.
View Full TextLog in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
More options
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
Summary
The first claim, in the early 1960s, that neurons could be generated in the postnatal mammalian brain was met with considerable skepticism and controversy (1). Over the next 20 years, each subsequent study reporting adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain was greeted similarly (2, 3). A dogma had been established and accepted by the scientific community: After birth, no new neurons could be generated. Conceptually, it was thought that the structural composition of the neurons within the brain remained unchangeable after birth. However, the detection of adult neurogenesis in certain regions of the brain suggested that the adult brain exhibits more plasticity than previously thought, and this has implications for concepts of self, memory, and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases.
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
