Neurogenesis Decreases Stress Resilience

New brain nerve cells key to stress resilience, UT Southwestern researchers find 03/31/2010. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found new clues that might help explain why some people are more susceptible to stress than others.  In a study of mice, the researchers determined that weeks after experiencing a stressful event, animals that were more susceptible to stress exhibited enhanced neurogenesis – the birth of new nerve cells in the brain. Specifically, the cells that these animals produced after a stressful event survived longer than new brain cells produced by mice that were more resilient. In addition, when researchers prevented neurogenesis in both stress-susceptible and resilient mice, the animals previously susceptible to stress became more resilient.

"This work shows that there is a period of time during which it may be possible to alter memories relevant to a social situation by manipulating adult-generated nerve cells in the brain," said Dr. Amelia Eisch, associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study, available in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This could eventually lead to a better understanding of why, in humans, there is an enormous variety of responses to stressful situations." UT Southwestern Medical Center via Eurekalert!