Cited by 1,642Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanismsMemory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

A Functional Role for Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Spatial Pattern Separation

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Clelland, C. D., Choi, M., Romberg, C., Clemenson, G. D., Fragniere, A., Tyers, P., Jessberger, S., Saksida, L. M. +3 more·2009·Science

Abstract

Neurogenesis and Spatial Memory: The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is one of two sites in the brain where new neurons are produced throughout life. Adult-born neurons integrate into the dentate gyrus circuitry and are thought to play a role in learning and memory. However, their contribution to hippocampal function remains unclear. Clelland et al. (p. 210 ) disrupted neurogenesis in mice and used two behavioral tasks to test for impairment in the formation of uncorrelated episodic memory representations. In one task, two arms were presented and the mice were rewarded for choosing the most recently visited arm in an earlier sequence; in the second task, animals were rewarded for choosing a certain location on a touch screen. Ablation of neurogenesis affected discrimination performance in both tasks but only when the arms or screen locations were close to one another. Neurogenesis is thus necessary for spatial pattern separation in the dentate gyrus.

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  • In adult rodents, newborn neurons have a critical period of 2-4 weeks of hyperexcitability when they are preferentially recruited during hippocampal-dependent tasks such as flexible learning, spatial memory, and pattern separation.

    “Although unknown in humans, studies in adult rodents have demonstrated that new born neurons have a critical period (2-4 weeks) of hyperexcitability, when they are preferentially recruited during a wide variety of hippocampal-dependent tasks such as flexible learning113, 114, spatial memory115 and most notably pattern separation (the ability to separate similar but different memories or”
  • New neurons participate in pattern separation, the process of making similar neural inputs distinct.

    “Furthermore, new neurons, presumably through their unique electrophysiological properties and sparse connections to CA3 neurons (Amaral et al., 2007), have been found to participate in pattern separation (Clelland et al., 2009; Danielson et al., 2016; Sahay et al., 2011), the process of making similar neural inputs distinct.”

    From Adult neurogenesis, glia, and the extracellular matrix (2019) · cites this paper as Clelland et al., 2009

  • Elimination or optogenetic silencing of adult-born neurons impairs pattern separation-like behaviors, while transgenic increases in adult neurogenesis enhance the ability of mice to distinguish between highly similar contexts.

    “Elimination or optogenetic silencing of adult-born neurons impairs pattern separation-like behaviors (Clelland et al., 2009; Danielson et al., 2016), while transgenic increases in adult neurogenesis enhance the ability of mice to distinguish between highly similar contexts (Sahay et al., 2011).”

    From Adult neurogenesis, glia, and the extracellular matrix (2019) · cites this paper as Clelland et al., 2009

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  1. [33]We thank M.J. Armstrong, S. and J.B. Aimone for useful input and discussions, M.L. Gage for editorial comments, and J. Simon for assistance with figures. This work was funded in part by the James S. McDonnell, Lookout and Mather's Foundations, Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NS-050217) (F.H.G.), and by generous donations from patients and families to the Huntington's and Parkinson's Disease Research Clinics at the BRC, University of Cambridge (R.A.B.). This work was also supported in part by MaxnetAging and NCCR Neural Plasticity and Repair (S.J.) and Marshall's and Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarships (C.D.C.).

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Authors
Clelland, C. D., Choi, M., Romberg, C., Clemenson, G. D., Fragniere, A., Tyers, P., Jessberger, S., Saksida, L. M., Barker, R. A., Gage, F. H., & Bussey, T. J.
Affiliations
  • Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
  • Barker, R. A.
  • Gage, F. H.
  • Bussey, T. J.
Venue
Science
Published
2009-07-10
Volume
325
Issue
5937
Pages
210-213
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2051173215
Cited by
1,642
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 44 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 68 · 2022: 93 · 2021: 105 · 2020: 106 · 2019: 87 · 2018: 95 · 2017: 124 · 2016: 106 · 2015: 127 · 2014: 131 · 2013: 120 · 2012: 101
FWCI
32.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS050217, NS050217)
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 hippocampal neurogenesis, spatial pattern separation, dentate gyrus, spatial discrimination, radial maze, spatial memory, newborn neurons, hippocampal function
MeSH terms
Animals, Cues, Discrimination Learning, Female, Hippocampus, Memory, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Neurons, Psychomotor Performance, Space Perception, Maze Learning, Dentate Gyrus, Mice, Neurogenesis

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