Neurological research links neurogenesis to depression and aging to immune shifts

Recent neurological research has provided new insights into brain function and aging. A study from Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons indicates that neurogenesis—the process of generating new neurons—stalls in the brains of adults suffering from major depression. This research, published in ‘Nature Medicine’, suggests that the inability to create new neurons in the hippocampus may reduce the resilience needed to adapt to environmental stress and changes.

Separately, researchers at Stanford University have discovered how the brain’s immune defenses change with age. Published in ‘Nature’, the study utilized somatic mutations as natural markers to track cell origins in 20 elderly individuals. The findings reveal that, unlike in mice, human brain immune cells (microglia) can be replenished by immune cells born in the blood. This influx of bone marrow-derived cells contributes to the brain’s surveillance and defense mechanisms as a person ages.