Experts discover how the hippocampus might grow new cells throughout life, even in old age. In a Nutshell A new study finds rare neural stem cells in the adult human hippocampus, suggesting some brains can generate new neurons into old age.

For more than six decades, neuroscientists have wrestled with a fundamental question about the human brain: Do adults continue to make new neurons, or are we born with all the brain cells we’ll ever have?

The team’s findings showed that these neuronal predecessors are indeed present in the hippocampus throughout adulthood, indicating the continued creation of new brain cells. As expected, however, neurogenesis rates were found to be far higher in young children than in older individuals.