2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
The Role of Adult Neurogenesis in Preventing the Onset of Dementia
| Project/Area Number |
19208030
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Applied molecular and cellular biology
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
HISATSUNE Tatsuhiro The University of Tokyo, 大学院・新領域創成科学研究科, 准教授 (10238298)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2007 – 2009
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| Keywords | 細胞工学 / 神経幹細胞 |
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| Research Abstract |
New neurons are generated in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation from neural stem cells, and contribute to the maintenance of hippocampal plasticity. The number of new neurons decreases as age progresses, but neural stem cells are reserved even in aged animals and elderly people, suggesting the contribution of adult neruogenesis on the maintenance of hippocampal function. There is a hypothesis that donepezil can maintain hippocampal plasticity through the promotion of new neuron generation. Donepezil is a leading medication for Alzheimer disease, but its mechanism for treating Alzheimer disease has not been fully clarified yet. To know roles of donepezil in maintaining and/or enhancing hippocampal plasticity, we evaluated the effect of donepezil on regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and discovered that donepezil promotes the genesis of new neurons even in aged animals.
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