Roles of adult neurogenesis in mood and emotion

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In this study, we aimed to clarify a possible causative link between NSCs and neurogenesis in the adult brain and mood/emotion and to explore a possibility to alter the mood or other brain functions by modification of the number of NSCs. First, we demonstrated that chronic stress decreases the number of NSCs in the adult brain and that this reduction can be restored by antidepressant treatment. Second, we found that mood stabilizing drugs, which are used to treat patients with bipolar disorder, enhance the self-renewal capability of mouse NSCs and that this pharmacological effects are mediated by the activation of Notch signaling in the NSC. Third, we developed a transgenic mouse system, in which numbers of NSCs can be manipulated by administration of doxycyclin. Our results could contribute to the understanding of pathogenesis of modd affective disorders and to the development of new therapeutic strategy for neuro-psychiatric diseases.