Are new neurons born in the adult human brain?
Peter ErikssonFred GageArturo Alvarez-BuyllaMaura BoldriniMaría Llorens-MartínJonas Frisén
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
For a long time it was thought that no new neurons form in the adult brain. Animal studies and a human study in 1998 showed that new neurons are born in adulthood in the hippocampus, a region important for memory. A study published in 2018, however, found almost no new neurons in the adult human hippocampus. Other studies the same year and later reported neuron production continuing into old age. The difference in results is largely attributed to tissue preparation and labelling methods.
For specialists
Eriksson and colleagues showed that in the brains of patients given BrdU for cancer diagnosis, the label was found in hippocampal neurons. Spalding and colleagues used the carbon-14 released into the atmosphere by nuclear tests in the 1950s and 60s to estimate that about 700 new neurons are added to the hippocampus each day. Sorrells and colleagues found that markers of immature neurons such as DCX and PSA-NCAM decline sharply after childhood. Moreno-Jiménez and colleagues reported that in tissue prepared with short fixation times these markers are seen up to the age of 90.
Claims
Evidence
Supporting
In the brains of cancer patients given the BrdU label late in life, the label was found in new neurons of the hippocampus.[1]
Dating with carbon-14 left over from nuclear tests showed that a substantial number of hippocampal neurons are renewed in adulthood.[2]
In hippocampal samples from 28 people collected quickly after death, new neurons and progenitor cells were found between the ages of 14 and 79.[4]
When tissue preparation was tightly controlled, immature neurons were reported up to age 90, and found to decline in people with Alzheimer's disease.[5]
Challenging
In 59 human brain samples, markers of new neurons declined sharply after childhood and were almost absent in adult samples.[3]
Open questions
- If neurons form in adulthood, how much do they contribute to memory and emotional regulation?
Connections
Sources
- Article (1998). Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nature Medicine 4(11), 1313–1317DOI 10.1038/3305archive
- Article (2013). Dynamics of hippocampal neurogenesis in adult humans. Cell 153(6), 1219–1227DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.002archive
- Article (2018). Human hippocampal neurogenesis drops sharply in children to undetectable levels in adults. Nature 555, 377–381DOI 10.1038/nature25975archive
- Article (2018). Human hippocampal neurogenesis persists throughout aging. Cell Stem Cell 22(4), 589–599DOI 10.1016/j.stem.2018.03.015archive
- Article (2019). Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is abundant in neurologically healthy subjects and drops sharply in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Nature Medicine 25, 554–560DOI 10.1038/s41591-019-0375-9archive
Search the literature
Look for scholarly work on this topic in other indexes:
Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Are new neurons born in the adult human brain?. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/yetiskin-norogenez/
@misc{athena_yetiskin_norogenez,
title = {Are new neurons born in the adult human brain?},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/yetiskin-norogenez/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 28, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history