title: The virtues of youth and maturity (in dentate granule cells).
abstract: How does adult neurogenesis contribute to memory? Nakashiba and colleagues generated mutant mice in which synaptic output from older hippocampal granule cells was specifically blocked. Experiments with these mice reveal an unpredicted age-dependent specialization of function, demonstrating that recently born cells support pattern separation, whereas older cells support pattern completion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. colin.lever@durham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lever
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burgess