Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus - E-Print (and open postdoc position)

[Laurenz Wiskott]

		      WHAT IS THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF
		  ADULT NEUROGENESIS IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS?

	   by Laurenz Wiskott, Malte Rasch, and Gerd Kempermann


Abstract:
The dentate gyrus is part of the hippocampal memory system and special in
that it generates new neurons throughout life. Here we discuss the question
of what the functional role of these new neurons might be. Our hypothesis
is that they help the dentate gyrus to avoid the problem of catastrophic
interference when adapting to new environments. We assume that old neurons
are rather stable and preserve an optimal encoding learned for known
environments while new neurons are plastic to adapt to those features that
are qualitatively new in a new environment. A simple network simulation
demonstrates that adding new plastic neurons is indeed a successful
strategy for adaptation without catastrophic interference.

Available from:
http://cogprints.org/4012/

Reference:
Wiskott, L., Rasch, M., and Kempermann, G. (2004).
What is the functional role of adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus?
Cognitive Sciences EPrint Archive (CogPrints) 4012,
http://cogprints.org/4012/ 
(<add date of your document download here>).

Additional Information:
http://itb1.biologie.hu-berlin.de/~wiskott/Projects/Hippocampus.html

Open Postdoc Position:
http://itb.biologie.hu-berlin.de/~wiskott/jobs2.html

-- 
Dr. Laurenz Wiskott, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Berlin
http://itb.biologie.hu-berlin.de/~wiskott/
l.wiskott at biologie.hu-berlin.de