The awakening of dormant neuronal precursors in the adult and aged brain

The study focuses on dormant neuronal precursors in the adult mammalian brain, specifically how aging affects their maturation. These precursors remain immature from birth to adulthood and awaken slowly, with some staying immature until old age. The researchers used transgenic mice to label immature precursors at different ages and track their maturation. They found that these precursors can awaken and mature at both young and old ages. However, neurons that matured later in life (late AM) differed from those that matured earlier (AM) in terms of morphology and function, suggesting a slower maturation process in old age.

• 1
  Dormant precursors can awaken and mature into adult-matured neurons (AM) even at old age, indicating that protracted immaturity does not prevent late awakening.
• 2
  Late AM neurons exhibit morphological and functional differences compared to AM neurons, including higher intrinsic excitability, higher input resistance, and less spontaneous synaptic input, suggesting relative immaturity.
• 3
  AM neurons are functionally more similar to neonatal-matured neurons (NM), whereas late AM neurons show distinct electrophysiological properties.