Adult hippocampal neurogenesis and its impairment in Alzheimer’s disease

Adult neurogenesis is the creation of new neuronswhich integrate into the existing neural circuit of theadult brain. Recent evidence suggests that adulthippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) persiststhroughout life in mammals, including humans.These newborn neurons have been implicated tohave a crucial role in brain functions such as learningand memory. Importantly, studies have also foundthat hippocampal neurogenesis is impaired inneurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases.Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most commonforms of dementia affecting millions of people.Cognitive dysfunction is a common symptom of ADpatients and progressive memory loss has beenattributed to the degeneration of the hippocampus.Therefore, there has been growing interest inidentifying how hippocampal neurogenesis isaffected in AD. However, the link between cognitivedecline and changes in hippocampal neurogenesis inAD is poorly understood. In this review, wesummarized the recent literature on AHN and itsimpairments in AD.