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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 586/16/3751    most recent jphysiol.2008.154807v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Morgenstern, N. A. Articles by Schinder, A. F. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Morgenstern, N. A. Articles by Schinder, A. F. Related Collections Review articles Neuroscience

¹ Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Leloir Institute - CONICET, Avenida Patricias Argentinas 435, (1405) Buenos Aires, Argentina

The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus generates neurons throughout life, but adult neurogenesis exhibits a marked age-dependent decline. Although the decrease in the rate of neurogenesis has been extensively documented in the ageing hippocampus, the specific characteristics of dentate granule cells born in such a continuously changing environment have received little attention. We have used retroviral labelling of neural progenitor cells of the adult mouse dentate gyrus to study morphological properties of neurons born at different ages. Dendritic spine density was measured to estimate glutamatergic afferent connectivity. Fully mature neurons born at the age of 2 months display 2.3 spines µm^–1 and maintain their overall morphology and spine density in 1-year-old mice. Surprisingly, granule cells born in 10-month-old mice, at which time the rate of neurogenesis has decreased by 40-fold, reach a density of dendritic spines similar to that of neurons born in young adulthood. Therefore, in spite of the sharp decline in cell proliferation, differentiation and overall neuronal number, the ageing hippocampus presents a suitable environment for new surviving neurons to reach a high level of complexity, comparable to that of all other dentate granule cells.

(Received 3 April 2008; accepted after revision 16 June 2008; first published online 19 June 2008)
Corresponding author A. F. Schinder: Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Leloir Institute - CONICET, Avenida Patricias Argentinas 435, (1405) Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Email: aschinder{at}leloir.org.ar

N. A. Morgenstern and G. Lombardi contributed equally to this work.

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