Chapter 5.4 Experience, structural plasticity and neurogenesis

The adult hippocampus is a structurally plastic region in which dendritic remodeling, synaptogenesis, neurogenesis, and cell death have all been reported to occur in the absence of damage or pathology. These ongoing structural changes are modulated by both hormones and experience, and may contribute to aspects of hippocampal function, such as learning and memory, response to novelty, and regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In turn, environmental complexity, learning, stress, and aversive experience appear to shape the hippocampus by regulating its structural plasticity. This chapter focuses on structural changes in the adult hippocampus, including dendritic remodeling and neurogenesis, and how these processes are affected by hormones and experience throughout life.