Cellular Imaging and Emerging Technologies for Adult Neurogenesis Research

The first report on the generation of new neurons in the adult mammalian brain occurred in the early 1960s, however, nearly 40 years passed before the scientific community generally recognized the existence of adult mammalian neurogenesis. Development of new technologies that facilitate the identification of newborn neurons in the early 1990s has been central to expanding our understanding of adult neurogenesis as a process influencing mammalian brain plasticity. Subsequently, the field of adult neurogenesis progressed tremendously thanks to continuous technical advances allowing in vivo and in vitro manipulations of adult neural progenitors. Today, a core understanding of various aspects of adult neurogenesis has emerged, including neural progenitor proliferation and fate-specification, and the migration, maturation, and synaptic integration of newborn neurons into functional circuits. However, numerous questions remain open. This research topic issue gather

Adult born olfactory bulb dopaminergic interneurons: molecular determinants and experience-dependent plasticity

The olfactory bulb (OB) is a highly plastic brain region involved in the early processing of olfactory information. A remarkably feature of the OB circuits in rodents is the constitutive integration of new neurons that takes place during adulthood. Newborn cells in the adult OB are mostly inhibitory interneurons belonging to chemically, morphologically and functionally heterogeneous types. Although there is general agreement that adult neurogenesis in the OB plays a key role in sensory information processing and olfaction-related plasticity, the contribution of each interneuron subtype to such functions is far to be elucidated. Here, we focus on the dopaminergic (DA) interneurons: we highlight recent findings about their morphological features and then describe the molecular factors required for the specification/differentiation and maintenance of the DA phenotype in adult born neurons. We also discuss dynamic changes of the DA interneuron population related to age, environmental stimuli and lesions, and their possible functional implications