| Neurogenesis | |
|---|---|
 A neurosphere of neural stem cells in rat embryo spreads out into a single layer of cells. A) Neurosphere of subventricular zone cells after two days in culture. B) Shows the neurosphere at four days in culture and cells migrating away. C) Cells at the periphery of the neurosphere mostly having extending processes. | |
| Identifiers | |
| MeSH | D055495 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
Neurogenesis is the process by which nervous system cells, the neurons, are produced by neural stem cells (NSCs).[1] This occurs in all species of animals except the porifera (sponges) and placozoans.[2] Types of NSCs include neuroepithelial cells (NECs), radial glial cells (RGCs), basal progenitors (BPs), intermediate neuronal precursors (INPs), subventricular zone astrocytes, and subgranular zone radial astrocytes, among others.[2]
Neurogenesis is most active during embryonic development and is responsible for producing all the various types of neurons of the organism, but it continues throughout adult life in a variety of organisms.[2] Once born, neurons do not divide (see mitosis), and many will live the lifespan of the animal, except under extraordinary and usually pathogenic circumstances.[3]
- ^ Purves, Dale (2012). Neuroscience (5. ed.). Sunderland, Mass: Sinauer. p. 492. ISBN 9780878936953.
- ^ a b c Eric R. Kandel, ed. (2006). Principles of neural science (5. ed.). Appleton and Lange: McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0071390118.
- ^ Gilbert, Scott F.; College, Swarthmore; Helsinki, the University of (2014). Developmental biology (Tenth ed.). Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer. ISBN 978-0878939787.