Influences of prenatal and postnatal stress on adult hippocampal neurogenesis: The double neurogenic niche hypothesis

• Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is involved in learning, memory, stress and plays a significant role in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
• Prenatal stress (PS) and postnatal stress (PTS)-mediated modulations of AHN are correlated with impairments in adult brain functions, such as memory or behavior.
• The hypothesis of double neurogenic niche postulates that each kind of stress, PS and PTS, influences a specific neurogenic pool, developmental or postnatal.

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is involved in learning, memory, and stress, and plays a significant role in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. As an age-dependent process, AHN is largely influenced by changes that occur during the pre- and postnatal stages of brain development, and constitutes an important field of research. This review examines the current knowledge regarding the regulators of AHN and the influence of prenatal and postnatal stress on later AHN. In addition, a hypothesis is presented suggesting that each kind of stress influences a specific neurogenic pool, developmental or postnatal, that later becomes a precursor with important repercussions for AHN. This hypothesis is referred to as “the double neurogenic niche hypothesis.” Discovering what receptors, transcription factors, or genes are specifically activated by different stressors is proposed as an essential line of future research in the field. Such knowledge shall constitute an important starting point toward the goal of modifying AHN in neurodegenerative or psychiatric diseases.

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