Adult neurogenesis and memory

The discovery, in the early 2000s, of neural stem cells capable of producing new neurons in the adult mammalian brain has opened up a new field of investigation. To date, we know that adult-born neurons in the hippocampus participate to memory processes and mood regulation. Interestingly, hippocampal neurogenesis has been found to be disrupted in neuropsychiatric diseases affecting memory abilities, such as Alzheimer's disease or major depression. Through the combined use of behavioral approaches, histological, molecular and viral techniques, we examine how adult-generated neurons contribute to the formation of memories in the healthy brain. We also investigate how environmental or targeted genetic manipulations of neural stem cells could enhance the production of new functional neurons in the adult brain and promote the recovery of memory functions in the diseased brain.

Current projects of the team focus on:

• The contribution of mitochondria to the fonctional et morphological development of new neurons in the hippocampus of the normal or pathological brain (Claire Rampon, Lionel Moulédous, Sébastien Lopez, collaboration MC Miquel- CRCA, D Blum- Lille)
• The genetic manipulation of endogenous neural stem cells to improve mnesic performance in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (Claire Rampon, Lionel Mouledous, Sébastien Lopez, Manon Marque, collaborations MC Miquel- CRCA, C Crozet-Montpellier)
• The behavioral validation of new mouse models of Alzheimer's disease based on patients iPSCs (Claire Rampon, Lionel Moulédous, Sébastien Lopez, collab J Kohistinao, T Malm-Finland)
• The manipulation of thalamic nuclei activity and its consequences on memory consolidation and hippocampal neurogenesis (Claire Rampon, Camille Lejards, collab JC Cassel- A Pereira- Strasbourg)
• The links between sociality acquisition and adult neurogenesis (Claire Rampon, Iulia Antioch, collab R Jeanson- CRCA)
• The study of neurogenic effects of environmental enrichment on the response to antidepressants in a chronic stress model (Claire Rampon, Bruno Guiard, Lionel Moulédous, Basile Coutens, collab V Masetti, Clinea, A Yrondi, CHU Toulouse)

Funding