Atomic Bombs Help Solve Brain Mystery

sciencehabit writes "The mushroom clouds produced by more than 500 nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War may have had a silver lining, after all. More than 50 years later, scientists have found a way to use radioactive carbon isotopes released into the atmosphere by nuclear testing to settle a long-standing debate in neuroscience: Does the adult human brain produce new neurons? After working to hone their technique for more than a decade, the researchers report that a small region of the human brain involved in memory makes new neurons throughout our lives — a continuous process of self-renewal that may aid learning."

Comments

Neurons regenerate you say?

[lxs]

I'll drink to that!

Re:This isn't a mystery

[werewolf1031]

I was under the impression that the standard explanation was that learning and memory were based on connections, not generation of new cells.

That would strongly imply a zero sum game, which would be like, for example, learning a new programming language but in the process forgetting how to talk to wom...

Wait, you might be onto something.