# Role of Adult Neurogenesis in Spatial Information Encoding in the Dentate Gyrus

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $407,400

## Abstract

Project Summary
The dentate gyrus (DG) is one of the few mammalian brain regions that continue to add new neurons through
adulthood. Adult neurogenesis is thought to confer advantages by improving spatial and context memory
discrimination: loss of neurogenesis impairs the ability to discriminate between similar but distinct places while
enhancing rates of neurogenesis improves this ability. Adult-born neurons, during a critical time in their
maturation when they have enhanced excitability and plasticity, are thought to improve the precision of neural
coding in the DG by making spatial representations more distinct. However, it is not yet known how adult-born
neurons affect the activity of the DG during behavior, as in vivo recordings in this area have only recently become
possible. We hypothesize that adult neurogenesis improves spatial memory by increasing the spatial information
encoded by the DG, via local feedback networks. To test this hypothesis we will use 2-photon microscopy to
image DG neural activity in vivo in behaving mice with manipulations of neurogenesis. We aim to: 1) Determine
if depletion of adult neurogenesis or silencing of new neurons decreases the encoding of spatial information in
the DG. 2) Determine if enhancing rates of adult neurogenesis is sufficient to increase spatial information in the
DG and whether the activity of new neurons is required for these changes, and 3) determine whether
hippocampal mossy cells, which receive inputs from DG granule cells, may be a critical circuit component in the
mediation of neurogenesis-dependent changes to DG spatial information. From these experiments, we will gain
essential knowledge of the processes through which adult neurogenesis contributes to spatial memory.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10830304
- **Project number:** 5R01NS125252-03
- **Recipient organization:** ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Jose Tiago Goncalves
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $407,400
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-05-15 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10830304

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10830304, Role of Adult Neurogenesis in Spatial Information Encoding in the Dentate Gyrus (5R01NS125252-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10830304. Licensed CC0.

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