Social environment and neurogenesis in the adult brain

Your doctor needs to find out exactly what social environment is needed for the best neurogenesis. It shouldn't take longer than two weeks to get this implemented in all stroke hospitals.
http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/abstract/16486

Claudia Lieberwirth¹ and Zuoxin Wang^1*

• ¹Department of Psychology & Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, USA

Adult neurogenesis—the formation of new neurons in adulthood—has been shown to be modulated by a variety of endogenous (e.g. trophic factors, neurotransmitters, and hormones) as well as exogenous (e.g. physical activity and environmental complexity) factors. Research on exogenous modulators of adult neurogenesis has focused primarily on the non-social environment. Most recently, however, a role of the social environment on modulating adult neurogenesis has also been suggested. The present review details the effects of adult-adult (e.g. mating, conspecific exposure, and pheromonal cues) and adult-offspring (e.g. gestation, parenthood, and exposure to offspring) interactions on adult neurogenesis. In addition, the effects of a stressful social environment (e.g. lack of social support and dominant-subordinate interactions) on adult neurogenesis are reviewed. The underlying mechanisms and potential functional significance of adult-generated neurons in mediating social behaviors are also discussed.