Integration of adult generated neurons during epileptogenesis.
Adult generated neurons in the dentate gyrus become functionally integrated into the existing hippocampal circuit by forming synapses with mature neurons. It is now well established that seizure activity increases neural proliferation, but only recently has the fate of seizure-induced newborn neurons been examined. An emerging consensus proposes that newborn neurons are highly sensitive to their environment, such that synaptic integration is profoundly altered following insults such as seizures. Whether these changes contribute to or counteract epileptogenesis is a subject of great interest because neurogenesis provides a potential target for therapeutic intervention. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the functional integration of adult generated granule cells in the normal rodent hippocampus, and describe how this process can be altered during epileptogenesis.
Department of Neurobiology and Evelyn L. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA.
Chuan-Sheng
CS
Zhao
Linda
L
Overstreet-Wadiche
D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology