Cited by 1,585Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanismsMemory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Adult neurogenesis produces a large pool of new granule cells in the dentate gyrus

Open access
Cameron, Heather A., Mckay, Ronald D.G.·2001·Journal of Comparative Neurology

Abstract

Knowing the rate of addition of new granule cells to the adult dentate gyrus is critical to understanding the function of adult neurogenesis. Despite the large number of studies of neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus, basic questions about the magnitude of this phenomenon have never been addressed. The S-phase marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) has been extensively used in recent studies of adult neurogenesis, but it has been carefully tested only in the embryonic brain. Here, we show that a high dose of BrdU (300 mg/kg) is a specific, quantitative, and nontoxic marker of dividing cells in the adult rat dentate gyrus, whereas lower doses label only a fraction of the S-phase cells. By using this high dose of BrdU along with a second S-phase marker, [(3)H]thymidine, we found that young adult rats have 9,400 dividing cells proliferating with a cell cycle time of 25 hours, which would generate 9,000 new cells each day, or more than 250,000 per month. Within 5-12 days of BrdU injection, a substantial pool of immature granule neurons, 50% of all BrdU-labeled cells in the dentate gyrus, could be identified with neuron-specific antibodies TuJ1 and TUC-4. This number of new granule neurons generated each month is 6% of the total size of the granule cell population and 30-60% of the size of the afferent and efferent populations (West et al. [1991] Anat Rec 231:482-497; Mulders et al. [1997] J Comp Neurol 385:83-94). The large number of the adult-generated granule cells supports the idea that these new neurons play an important role in hippocampal function.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/cne.1040

Cites

71 of 71 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The dentate gyrus of the adult brain represents a key region for neurogenesis.

    “As the DG of the adult brain represents a key region for neurogenesis,37”
  • The proportion of cells labeled by the sensor approximately reflects physiological proportions.

    “indicating the proportion of cells labeled by the sensor approximately reflects physiological proportions [21, 22].”
  • The dentate gyrus is mostly comprised of mature neurons (NeuN), with smaller populations of precursor cells (nestin) and newly differentiated neurons (DCX).

    “These results indicate the dentate gyrus is mostly comprised of mature neurons (NeuN), along with a smaller population of precursor cells (nestin) and newly differentiated neurons (DCX), which corresponds to prior findings examining the relative number of each cell population in the dentate gyrus, indicating the proportion of cells labeled by the sensor approximately reflects physiological Proport”
  • In the adult rat, 9000 new neurons are born per day, and survive with a half-life of 28 days.

    “In the adult rat, 9000 new neurons are born per day, and survive with a half -life of 28 days.64”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Cameron, H. A., & Mckay, R. D. G.
Affiliations
National Institutes of Health (US)
Corresponding author
Cameron, Heather A.
Venue
Journal of Comparative Neurology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2001-06-08
Volume
435
Issue
4
Pages
406-417
ISSN
  • 0021-9967 (ISSN-L)
  • 1096-9861
OpenAlex
W2139481908
Cited by
1,585
References
71
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 58 · 2016: 77 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 81 · 2013: 74 · 2012: 86
FWCI
13.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journal of Comparative Neurology (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
adult neurogenesis, dentate gyrus, granule cells, bromodeoxyuridine, cell proliferation, cell cycle duration, thymidine, hippocampus, hippocampal function
MeSH terms
Animals, Antimetabolites, Bromodeoxyuridine, Cell Cycle, Cell Survival, Male, Tissue Fixation, Dentate Gyrus, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review