Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

About the PNAS Member Editor
Name Gage, Fred H.
Location Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Primary Field Systems Neuroscience
Secondary Field Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
 Election Citation
Gage is known for his discovery of structural and functional plasticity in the adult mammalian brain. His studies have shown that humans continue to generate new neurons throughout life, and that birth and survival of the neurons is regulated by behavior. He also demonstrated that neurotrophic factors can induce functional repair of the damaged and aged brain.
 Research Interests
My research concentrates on the unexpected plasticity observed in the adult brain. My lab demonstrated that neural stem cells exist in the adult hippocampus, can give rise to neurons that are physiologically active, and are causally involved in learning and memory. Importantly, we showed that, contrary to longstanding dogma, neurogenesis does occur in the adult human brain. To study human neurogenesis my team developed human neuron models, which have revealed differences associated with human psychiatric disease and neurodegenerative diseases. We also discovered that mobile elements (moveable DNA sequences) are active during neurogenesis, and this leads to genomic mosaicism (organs and organisms being composed of genetically different cells), which contributes to plasticity, adaptability and diversity in the brain and evolution.

 
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