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Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is involved in anxiety-related behaviors

Abstract

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is a unique example of structural plasticity, the functional role of which has been a matter of intense debate. New transgenic models have recently shown that neurogenesis participates in hippocampus-mediated learning. Here, we show that transgenic animals, in which adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been specifically impaired, exhibit a striking increase in anxiety-related behaviors. Our results indicate that neurogenesis plays an important role in the regulation of affective states and could be the target of new treatments for anxiety disorders.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr F Chaouloff for his helpful comments. The technical help of Mr C Dupuy, Miss S Lamarque, Miss D Gonzales, and Mrs V Roullot–Lacarrière is greatly acknowledged. This work was financially supported by INSERM and Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR to DNA). CFR was funded by the ‘Ministère délégué à l’Enseignement Supérieur et à la Recherche' and NG by ANR.

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Correspondence to P-V Piazza or D N Abrous.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Molecular Psychiatry website (http://www.nature.com/mp)

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Revest, JM., Dupret, D., Koehl, M. et al. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is involved in anxiety-related behaviors. Mol Psychiatry 14, 959–967 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2009.15

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