Neurogenesis and Cognitive Resilience Across the Lifespan

Adult neurogenesis is one of the most striking expressions of brain plasticity, allowing the continuous integration of new neurons into established circuits throughout life. In the mammalian brain, the hippocampal dentate gyrus and the subventricular zone retain populations of neural stem and progenitor cells whose proliferation, differentiation, and circuit integration depend on a tightly regulated molecular landscape, including BDNF, Wnt, Notch, Sonic hedgehog, and epigenetic regulators of cell fate. The activity of these niches is shaped by experience, learning, stress, sleep, exercise, diet, and inflammatory signals, linking lifestyle and environment directly to the cellular substrates of plasticity.

The functional contribution of adult-born neurons is increasingly understood as a key element of cognitive resilience, the brain’s capacity to maintain memory, learning, and behavioral flexibility despite age-related changes or environmental challenges. New neurons in the dentate gyrus support pattern separation, contextual learning, and emotional regulation, while progenitor-derived signaling influences the broader plasticity of surrounding circuits. How these processes change from development through adulthood into healthy aging, and how their molecular regulation shapes long-term cognitive trajectories, remains an active and evolving question.

This Research Topic aims to bring together work on the molecular mechanisms of neurogenesis and their contribution to cognitive resilience across the lifespan. It welcomes studies that connect stem and progenitor cell biology with circuit-level function, behavior, and adaptive capacity in the healthy brain, as well as work that explores how early-life and adult experiences leave lasting molecular marks on neurogenic niches. We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

o Molecular regulation of neural stem cell maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation

o Epigenetic and transcriptional control of neurogenic niches across life stages

o Signaling pathways linking experience, learning, and behavior to adult neurogenesis

o Integration of adult-born neurons into hippocampal and olfactory circuits

o Contribution of neurogenesis to pattern separation, memory, and emotional regulation

o Effects of stress, exercise, diet, sleep, and environmental enrichment on neurogenic capacity

o Glial and vascular niche components shaping neural stem cell behavior

o Age-related changes in neurogenesis and their relationship to cognitive resilience

o Comparative insights into neurogenic mechanisms during development, adulthood, and healthy aging

Article types welcomed: Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Methods, Brief Research Report, Perspective, Hypothesis and Theory, and more.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: adult neurogenesis, cognitive resilience, neural stem cells, hippocampus, neuroplasticity, aging

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.