Neurogenesis occurs throughout life in mammalian dentate gyrus. The effect
of learning on newborn cell survival was studied in rat. Rats were trained
on a hippocampus-dependent spatial learning task by using Morris water maze
. Neurogenesis was evaluated by 5-bromo-2'deoxyuridine administered before
learning. Several newborn cells expressed the immature neuron marker TOAD-6
4. The main findings were as follows: (1) the survival of newborn cells was
enhanced by learning at early stage of differentiation; (2) the newborn ce
lls saved by learning were mainly located in the rostral pare of external b
lade of granule cell layer and (3) there was a correlation between the actu
al individual learning and newborn cell survival. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science
Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.