Immunocytochemical evidence for functional integration of newborn hippocampal neurons after stroke

It is well established that enriched environment and rehabilitative training increase the number of newborn cells in the hippocampus after focal ischemia. Likewise these therapies improve the functional outcome after stroke as demonstrated in behavioral tests like the Morris water maze. But previous findings in various models of epilepsy have shown a failing integration of newborn neurons representing a form of maladaptive plasticity. Here, we investigated whether newborn cells generated after cortical infarcts integrate into functional hippocampal circuits using immediate early gene expression (c-fos, Zif268) a…