Department of Biology, University of Nevada-Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2010 Apr 7;277(1684):1071-9. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1769. Epub 2009 Nov 25.
The adult hippocampus in birds and mammals undergoes neurogenesis and the resulting new neurons appear to integrate structurally and functionally into the existing neural architecture. However, the factors underlying the regulation of new neuron production is still under scrutiny. In recent years, the concept that spatial memory affects adult hippocampal neurogenesis has gained acceptance, although results attempting to causally link memory use to neurogenesis remain inconclusive, possibly owing to confounds of motor activity, task difficulty or training for the task. Here, we show that ecologically relevant, spatial memory-based experiences of food caching and retrieving directly affect hippocampal neurogenesis in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli). We found that restricting memory experiences in captivity caused significantly lower rates of neurogenesis, as determined by doublecortin expression, compared with captive individuals provided with such experiences. However, neurogenesis rates in both groups of captive birds were still greatly lower than those in free-ranging conspecifics. These findings show that ecologically relevant spatial memory experiences can directly modulate neurogenesis, separate from other confounds that may also independently affect neurogenesis.
鸟类和哺乳动物的成年海马体经历神经发生，由此产生的新神经元在结构和功能上似乎整合到现有的神经结构中。然而，调节新神经元产生的因素仍在研究之中。近年来，空间记忆影响成年海马体神经发生的概念已经被接受，尽管试图将记忆使用与神经发生因果联系起来的结果仍不确定，这可能是由于运动活动、任务难度或任务训练的混淆。在这里，我们表明，与食物埋藏和检索相关的、基于空间记忆的生态相关经验直接影响山雀（Poecile gambeli）的海马体神经发生。我们发现，与提供这种经验的圈养个体相比，在圈养环境中限制记忆体验会导致双皮质蛋白表达的神经发生率显著降低。然而，两组圈养鸟类的神经发生率仍然远低于自由生活的同物种鸟类。这些发现表明，与其他可能独立影响神经发生的混淆因素分开，与食物埋藏和检索相关的、基于空间记忆的生态相关经验可以直接调节神经发生。
