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Neurogenesis refers to the formation of new neurons in the brain. It is an integral part of prenatal development, but neurogenesis in adults has been a topic of debate among scientists. Today, research suggests that neurogenesis continues in certain areas of the brain after birth and even into adulthood.

Conventional wisdom has long suggested that we cannot grow new brain cells in adulthood, that we are born with all of the brain cells we will ever have, and that once those gray cells expire, they’re gone for good.

This belief was fueled, in part, by the fact that certain motor (movement) and cognitive (thought) functions tend to decline the older we get. But should this suggest that it’s all downhill once we approach a certain age and that we have no choice but to wait for the inevitable decline?

Research on Adult Neurogenesis

While the vast majority of our brain’s cells are formed during prenatal development, there are certain parts of the brain that continue to create new neural cells during infancy. Until recently, however, the brain’s limited capacity to regenerate triggered the belief that neurogenesis—the birth of new brain cells—ceased soon after this stage.

However, research over the last two decades has suggested that at least one part of the brain continues to create new cells throughout a person’s lifespan—part of the brain called the hippocapus.

Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus

During the late 1990s, researchers at Rockefellers University in New York City conducted studies in which marmoset monkeys were injected with a tracer chemical that could differentiate between slow-dividing mature brain cells and fast-dividing new ones.

They found that the hippocampus (a brain region associated with memories, learning, and emotions) continued to create new cells without the constraint of age or time.

Later studies using carbon-14 dating (which evaluates the age and process of cellular development) confirmed that cells in the hippocampus, while continually dying, were quickly replaced by new ones. It is only by the formation of these cells that the hippocampus can maintain its central functions.

Neurogenesis Continues Through Life

Some studies have shown that neurogenesis occurs in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and that new brain cells continue to form into old age. Other research suggests that the formation of new cells in this region plays a role in learning and memory while also protecting the brain from stress.

Contradictory Findings

Other research performed at the University of California at San Francisco failed to demonstrate the development of new neurons in the hippocampus of almost 30 adult patients, fueling the controversy of whether neurogenesis in adults actually occurs.

The Gene That Influences Neural Regeneration

More recently, animal studies conducted by researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine found that when adult neurons are injured, they return to an embryonic state. This can help them regenerate, a process influenced by the Huntingtin (HTT) gene.

Mutations in the HTT gene lead to the progressive breakdown and death of brain cells, a condition known as Huntington’s disease.

Why Neurogenesis Is Important

Research on neurogenesis is crucial because it suggests that there are factors that can stimulate and inhibit the process of adult neurogenesis.

• Development of neuropsychiatric conditions: Researchers are interested in learning how neurogenesis might impact the pathogenesis of different mental health conditions. For example, if neurogenesis is possible, how would promoting it influence the course of conditions like depression or schizophrenia?
• Role in memory and learning: Understanding neurogenesis can also provide researchers with more information about how new cell development might impact memory and learning throughout life.
• Impact on age-related cognitive declines: Researchers know brain cells lose connections as people enter old age. Learning more about the process of neurogenesis might help them develop ways to retain these connections or encourage new ones.

How to Promote Neurogenesis

Research on adult neurogenesis is still ongoing, but researchers do believe that there are certain things that you can do that might help promote the development of new brain cells (and protect old ones).

Exercise Your Body

Among the factors that can potentially “amp up” this process, exercise has been considered one of the most promising. Animal research conducted by scientists at the University of Chicago found that aerobic exercise led to both an increase in cell production in the hippocampus and an increase in the amount of genetic information being encoded.

Research from the University of Pennsylvania reported that aerobic exercise among 120 older adults increased the actual size of the hippocampus by two percent and effectively reversed the aging-related cell loss by one to two years.

A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis found that aerobic exercise had no significant effect on total hippocampal volume. However, the results did indicate that exercise was connected with significant effects on left hippocampal volume. It also suggested that aerobic exercise played an important role in the retention of hippocampal volume over time.

Exercise Your Brain

In addition to exercise, scientists have found that enriched environments can contribute to the survival of old cells and the production of new ones. In short, it is suggested that the more you exercise your brain, the more you can maintain optimal brain function.

On the flip side, there are factors that directly undermine neurogenesis. Chief among these is age. We know, for example, that by the time many adults reach their 80s, many of the neural connections in the hippocampus will be lost.

Manage Your Stress

We also know that stress, both acute and chronic, can decrease neurogenesis in the hippocampus of adult brains. While the exact mechanisms are not entirely clear, researchers have found that stress increases glucosteroids, which in turn reduces molecules known as trophic factors.

Managing your stress effectively can involve many practices, including adopting a positive mindset, using relaxation strategies, getting enough sleep, and engaging in leisure activities. Each person is different, so finding what works best for you is important.

Jean Piaget‘s theory of cognitive development is well-known within the fields of psychology and education, but it has also been the subject of considerable criticism. While presented in a series of discrete, progressive stages, even Piaget believed that individual development is a product of genetics and environment and does not always follow such a smooth and predictable path.

Despite the criticism, the theory has had a considerable impact on our understanding of child development.

Support for the Theory

Piaget’s focus on qualitative development had an important impact on education. He believed that children should be taught at the level for which they are developmentally prepared, and instruction should be individualized as much as possible. He also observed that children were active learners, and should be engaged in play and structured activities that promote an optimal learning environment.

In addition to this, a number of instructional strategies have been derived from Piaget’s work. These strategies include providing a supportive environment, utilizing social interactions and peer teaching, and helping children see fallacies and inconsistencies in their thinking.

Problems With Research Methods

Much of the criticism of Piaget’s work is regarding his research methods. He conducted naturalistic research through observational studies. A major source of inspiration for his theory on cognitive development was Piaget’s observations of his own three children, of whom he had kept detailed records of their progress.

He also interviewed other children with open-ended questions in his attempts to understand their logic and reasoning. There were no right or wrong answers, rather, a desire to understand how they came to their conclusions in their own words.

However, his methods were criticized for being biased. The children in Piaget’s small research sample (other than his own children) were all from families who were well-educated and of high socioeconomic status. Because of this unrepresentative sample, it is difficult to generalize his findings to a larger population.

Another issue lies with Piaget’s lack of clear operational definitions for the variables he studied. To replicate his observations and objectively measure how one variable leads to changes in another, researchers need to have very specific definitions of each variable. Much of the terminology related to Piaget’s theory lacks these operational definitions, so it has been challenging for researchers to accurately replicate his work.

With the information they have, researchers have been able to replicate many of Piaget’s observations. However, if they make changes in the way questions are asked or the way tasks are presented, they get different results. Modern researchers have found that some tasks are accomplished much earlier in development than Piaget predicted in his stage theory, and not everyone seems to reach the fourth stage of formal operations.

Developmental Variations Exist

The theory seems to suggest that all people should at least reach the formal operational stage if not further, yet it is not clear if all people actually fully achieve the developmental tasks that are the hallmark of formal operations. Even as adults, people may struggle to think abstractly about situations, falling back on more concrete operational ways of thinking.

The stage approach is viewed as problematic as well. Stage theories have fallen out of popularity in modern-day psychology for a number of reasons. One of these is that they often fail to accurately capture the many individual variations that exist in development.

Piaget viewed the stages as guideposts to follow the cognitive development in children and believed you could not skip stages, go out of order, or go backward. Piaget also proposed that each of the stages could be further divided into substages.

Piaget became more flexible with the stage model in that he acknowledged the individual nature of development and the environmental influences (including culture) on progression. He recognized you might be dipping your toe into the next stage in some areas of development, while still finishing up some of the milestones of the previous stage. He also believed people could move beyond the 4th stage and did not limit the possibilities.

The Theory Underestimated Children’s Abilities

Piaget believed children in the pre-operational stage, ages 2 to 7, were egocentric and were not able to understand the perspective of another person. That means children believe everyone views the world the same way they see it; same perspectives, same thoughts, same feelings, same beliefs, etc.

Piaget tested this using a three-dimensional model called the three mountain task. The child was asked to sit and take in the view of the scene from their own perspective, and then try to identify what the doll on the other side or from the mountaintop would see from their line of sight. They selected the doll’s perspective from a stack of pictures. The children frequently chose the same perspective as their own, indicating egocentrism.

Most researchers agree that children possess many of the cognitive abilities at an earlier age than Piaget suspected. Theory of mind research has found that 4- and 5-year-old children have a rather sophisticated understanding of their own mental processes as well as those of other people. Other researchers indicate Piaget’s three mountain task required complex spatial skills that were too difficult for the children in his experiments.

To explore Piaget’s theory in regard to egocentrism, several studies have been done using a variety of scenes, the use of dolls, training, and different types of response options. With some of these changes, the children were able to identify the other perspective correctly showing the importance of the context and how relatable or relevant the task was to the child. Some research has shown that even children as young as age 3 have some ability to understand that other people will have different views of the same scene.

However, other researchers purport egocentrism extends into adolescence. David Elkind suggested that adolescents experience a period of self-absorption, and feel they are being observed, admired, and scrutinized more than they are. He came up with the concepts of the imaginary audience and the personal fable.

Piaget’s view on egocentrism evolved over the decades of his research, and he came to believe that different forms of egocentrism were evident in every stage of life, and eventually recognized this cognitive limitation in adolescents and adults.

Piaget’s Legacy

While there are few strict Piagetians around today, most people can appreciate Piaget’s influence and legacy. His work generated interest in child development and had an enormous impact on the future of education and developmental psychology.

Piaget’s theory also helped change the way that researchers thought about children. Rather than simply viewing them as smaller versions of adults, experts began to recognize that the way children think is fundamentally different from the way that adults think.