About the Salta Group
In the beginning of the 20th century, Ramon y Cajal was founding one of the most influential dogmas of neurobiology by stating that “Once the development has ended ….. everything may die and nothing will be regenerated”. A very exciting and scientifically useful rollercoaster with dogmas getting overturned again and again unfolded over the past 30 years.
Contrary to the long-standing dogma according to which no new neurons can be generated in the adult mammalian brain, there is now evidence supporting the existence of immature neurons in the adult human hippocampus. Our lab studies the origin of these populations, how they are impacted by Alzheimer’s disease pathology, and whether they can be recruited to ‘rejuvenate’ the degenerating brain and counteract memory loss. We employ transcriptomics and other molecular and imaging approaches to map the cellular and molecular complexity of the adult hippocampal neurogenic niche and dissect the biological pathways and the protein-coding and non-coding determinants that are deregulated in Alzheimer’s disease.
Cajal would conclude his 1913 doctrine by saying that “It is for the science of the future to change, if possible, this harsh decree”. The ultimate goal of our research is to understand how adult hippocampal neurogenesis can contribute to the brain’s resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and whether harnessing neurogenesis can increase the ‘fitness’ of the hippocampal niche and improve memory in Alzheimer’s.
Recent News from the lab
- 22.04.2025 - Amber Penning defended her thesis.
- 10.01.2025 - New preptint: Unique transcriptional profiles of adult human immature neurons in healthy aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and cognitive resilience Check this thread from Giorgia for a quick summary!
- 10.09.2024 - New Publication alert! NACC2, a molecular effector of miR-132 regulation at the interface between adult neurogenesis and Alzheimer’s disease
- 05.04.2024 - Our group page has launched!