Adult brains may keep making new neurons

Image credit: halacious via Unsplash

A new AI-aided analysis of human brain tissue adds strong support to the idea that adults continue to generate new neurons, potentially settling a debate that’s lasted for nearly a century. By combining single-cell genetic signatures with machine-learning methods, researchers identified cells in the hippocampus with hallmarks of neural progenitors (the precursor cells that can give rise to new neurons), along with immature neuron-like cells, suggesting ongoing adult neurogenesis rather than a process that stops after childhood.

Source

Ionut Dumitru et al. ,Identification of proliferating neural progenitors in the adult human hippocampus.Science389,58-63(2025).DOI:10.1126/science.adu9575

Additional Reading

https://www.science.org/content/article/genetic-evidence-our-brains-make-new-neurons-adulthood-may-close-century-old-debate

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/proof-that-adult-brains-make-new-neurons-settles-scientific-controversy/

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2024/10/study-generating-neurons.html