ReviewBehavioural brain research2012
Use it or lose it: how neurogenesis keeps the brain fit for learning.
Review in Behavioural brain research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 90 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
90 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Physical activity to improve cognition in older adults: can physical activity programs enriched with cognitive challenges enhance the effects? A systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2018Pooled it
- Effects of dance mindfulness and combined interventions on social anxiety in left behind rural adolescents: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effects of a Combined Intervention of Computerized Cognitive Training Preceded by Physical Exercise for Improving Frailty Status and Cognitive Function in Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Effects of a Tablet-Based Home Practice Program With Telepractice on Treatment Outcomes in Chronic Aphasia.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR · 2018Trial
- The effects of an 8-week computerized cognitive training program in older adults: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2018Trial
- A combined early cognitive and physical rehabilitation program for people who are critically ill: the activity and cognitive therapy in the intensive care unit (ACT-ICU) trial.Physical therapy · 2012Trial
- Performance of 5 AI Models on United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 Questions: Comparative Observational Study.JMIR AI · 2026Article
- Synaptic potentiation requires PARP1 activation: prevailing concepts are revisited.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Short-form video usage and cognitive function among rural older adults in northern China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The Neurogenic Niche: Interactions Among Vessels, Glia, and Neural Stem Cells.Stem cells international · 2026Review
- Depression, anxiety, and mental state in patients with early-stage dementia: comparison of reminiscence therapy and cognitive stimulation therapy.Dementia & neuropsychologia · 2026Article
- Pathway analysis of cognitive resilience factors and cognitive function in the Long Life Family Study (LLFS).Neuropsychology · 2026Observational
- Article
- Interrupted Learning across the Lifespan.Human development · 2025Article
- Review
- The association between the diversity of online activities on smartphones and cognitive function among middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Maintaining a Dynamic Brain: A Review of Empirical Findings Describing the Roles of Exercise, Learning, and Environmental Enrichment in Neuroplasticity from 2017-2023.Brain plasticity (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Review
30 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The presence of new neurons in the adult hippocampus indicates that this structure incorporates new neurons into its circuitry and uses them for some function related to learning and/or related thought processes. Their generation depends on a variety of factors ranging from age to aerobic exercise to sexual behavior to alcohol consumption. However, most of the cells will die unless the animal engages in some kind of effortful learning experience when the cells are about one week of age. If learning does occur, the new cells become incorporated into brain circuits used for learning. In turn, some processes of learning and mental activity appear to depend on their presence. In this review, we discuss the now rather extensive literature showing that new neurons are kept alive by effortful learning, a process that involves concentration in the present moment of experience over some extended period of time. As these thought processes occur, endogenous patterns of rhythmic electrophysiological activity engage the new cells with cell networks that already exist in the hippocampus and at efferent locations. Concurrent and synchronous activity provides a mechanism whereby the new neurons become integrated with the other neurons. This integration allows the present experience to become integrated with memories from the recent past in order to learn and predict when events will occur in the near future. In this way, neurogenesis and learning interact to maintain a fit brain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.