Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-10-2009
Journal
Science
Volume
325
Issue
5937
First Page
210
Last Page
213
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1126/science.1173215
Abstract
The dentate gyrus (DG) of the mammalian hippocampus is hypothesized to mediate pattern separation-the formation of distinct and orthogonal representations of mnemonic information-and also undergoes neurogenesis throughout life. How neurogenesis contributes to hippocampal function is largely unknown. Using adult mice in which hippocampal neurogenesis was ablated, we found specific impairments in spatial discrimination with two behavioral assays: (i) a spatial navigation radial arm maze task and (ii) a spatial, but non-navigable, task in the mouse touch screen. Mice with ablated neurogenesis were impaired when stimuli were presented with little spatial separation, but not when stimuli were more widely separated in space. Thus, newborn neurons may be necessary for normal pattern separation function in the DG of adult mice.
