Elizabeth Gould

Elizabeth Gould
Systems and Circuits ; Human Neuroscience Systems and Circuits ; Human Neuroscience

Dorman T. Warren Professor of Psychology and Professor of Neuroscience

Ph.D., UCLA, 1988
Research: Neurogenesis and hippocampal function.
goulde@princeton.edu
Research Lab
elizabeth-gould-cv.pdf
609-258-4483
A56 Neuroscience

Research Focus

My laboratory studies neurogenesis (the production of new neurons) and other forms of structural plasticity in the early postnatal and adult mammalian brain. Several decades ago, new cells with neuronal characteristics were reported in the hippocampus, olfactory bulb and neocortex of adult brains first by Altman and then by Kaplan. Despite these early reports, relatively little progress has been made toward understanding the control of neuron production in these areas and neurogenesis in the adult neocortex remains controversial. My laboratory explores issues related to the regulation of cell production and survival in these three brain regions in rodents and primates (marmosets and macaques).

We have found that stressful experiences inhibit the production of new neurons in the hippocampus of adult rodents and primates. Moreover, developmental stress (either prenatal or early postnatal) persistently diminishes the production of new neurons, even into adulthood.

We are trying to answer the following basic questions: How do hormones modulate the production of new neurons? What types of experience affect new cell production? What are the mechanisms that underlie hormonal and experiential modulation of structural plasticity? What possible role could late-generated cells play in brain function?

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Selected Publications

  • Gould E, McEwen BS, Tanapat P, Galea LAM, Fuchs,E. (1997) Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the adult tree shrew is regulated by psychosocial stress and NMDA receptor activation. The Journal of Neuroscience 17:2492-2498.
  • Gould E, Tanapat P, McEwen BS, Flugge G, Gross CG, Fuchs E (1998) Proliferation of granule cell precursors in the dentate gyrus of adult monkeys is diminished by stress. Proc. Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 31689-3171.
  • Gould E, Beylin A, Tanapat P, Reeves A, Shors TJ (1999) Learning enhances adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal formation. Nature Neurosci 2: 260-265.
  • Hastings NB, Gould E (1999) Rapid extension of axons into the CA3 region by adult-generated granule cells. J Comp Neurol 413: 146-154.
  • Gould E, Vail N, Wagers M, Gross CG (2001) Adult-generated hippocampal and neocortical neurons in macaques have a transient existence. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98: 10910-10917.
  • Tanapat P, Hastings NB, Reeves AJ, Rudel TA, Galea LA, Gould E (2001) Exposure to fox odor inhibits cell proliferation in the hippocampus of adult rats via an adrenal hormone-dependent mechanism. J Comp Neurol 437: 496-504.
  • Shors TJ, Mieseages G, Beylin A, Zhao M, Rydel T, Gould E (2001) Neurogenesis in the adult is involved in the formation of trace memories. Nature 410: 372-376.
  • Gould E, Gross CG (2002) Neurogenesis in adult mammals: some progress and problems. The Journal of Neuroscience 22: 619-623.