Neurogenesis

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"Give with a free hand, but give only your own."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien The Children of Hurin
- Neurogenesis -

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Observations:

The Reinvention of the Self
Brain & Behavior / by Jonah Lehrer / February 23, 2006

Elizabeth Gould overturned one of the central tenets of neuroscience. Now she’s building on her discovery to show that poverty and stress may not just be symptoms of society, but bound to our anatomy.
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_reinvention_of_the_self/P1/

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Known sources:

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Natural sources:

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References:

Brainy Beverage: Study Reveals How Green Tea Boosts Brain Cell Production to Aid Memory
ScienceDaily (Sep. 5, 2012) — It has long been believed that drinking green tea is good for the memory. Now researchers have discovered how the chemical properties of China's favorite drink affect the generation of brain cells, providing benefits for memory and spatial learning… EGCG, (epigallocatechin-3 gallate) a key property of green tea. While EGCG is a known anti-oxidant, the team believed it can also have a beneficial effect against age-related degenerative diseases.

"We proposed that EGCG can improve cognitive function by impacting the generation of neuron cells, a process known as neurogenesis," said Bai. "We focused our research on the hippocampus, the part of the brain which processes information from short-term to long-term memory."...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905083852.htm

Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) promotes neural progenitor cell proliferation and sonic hedgehog pathway activation during adult hippocampal neurogenesis.
Wang Y, Li M, Xu X, Song M, Tao H, Bai Y.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2012 Aug;56(8):1292-303. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201200035. Epub 2012 Jun 13.
Source: Department of Medical Genetics, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, P. R. China
Abstract
SCOPE:
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is a lifelong feature of brain plasticity that appears to be critically involved in adult brain function and neurological disease. Recent studies suggest that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is the main polyphenolic constituent of green tea, may be used for the prevention and treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases. We hypothesized that EGCG promotes adult neurogenesis, which may be beneficial to hippocampus-dependent learning and memory.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
We show that EGCG treatment significantly increased the number of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled cells in adult hippocampal neural progenitor cell (NPC) cultures and in the dentate gyrus of adult mice. Meanwhile, EGCG markedly improved spatial cognition in mice. These events are associated with the sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway. We observed that EGCG triggered a robust upregulation of Shh receptor (Patched) mRNA and protein expression in cultured NPCs as well as an upregulation of the downstream Shh transcriptional target Gli1. These changes were further confirmed in the hippocampus of mice administered EGCG. The blockage of the Shh signal with the pharmacological inhibitor cyclopamine attenuated EGCG-induced hippocampal neurogenesis.
CONCLUSION:
Our results provide strong evidence that EGCG enhances adult hippocampal neurogenesis.
PMID: 22692966 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22692966

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