For at least six decades, neuroscientists have been arguing over a big, foundational question: Do adult brains make new neurons? This process of “neurogenesis” had been shown in other adult animals, but its evidence in humans was circumstantial—until now. Using a new technique, scientists have found newly formed neurons in the brains of adults as old as age 78—and, for the first time, have identified the other brain cells that birthed them.
The results, published on Thursday in Science, are the first signs that cells with the capacity to turn into neurons, called neural precursor cells, exist in adult human brains. “Now we have very strong evidence that the whole process is there in humans, from the precursor cells to the immature neurons,” says Gerd Kempermann, a neurobiologist at the Dresden University of Technology, who was not involved in the study.
Adult brains grow new neurons, and researchers have finally found where they come from
American Buddhist Net 