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Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., Investigator Head, Neuroplasticity and Behavioral Unit Laboratory of Neurosciences

Biography: Henriette van Praag received her Ph.D. from the Department of Psychobiology at Tel-Aviv University in 1992 for her work studying the development of opiate receptor function with Dr. Hanan Frenk. She did her postdoctoral research on the role of nerve growth factors in brain injury at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey with Dr. Ira Black from 1992-1997. She continued her research in brain regeneration as a staff scientist with Dr. Fred Gage in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California from 1997-2007. Specifically, she researched the regulation of the birth of new neurons in the adult hippocampus, a brain area that is important in learning and memory.

Research Overview: Most neurons in the adult central nervous system are terminally differentiated and cannot be replaced when they die. However, research over the past decade has shown that small populations of new neurons are generated in the mature olfactory bulb and hippocampus. Interestingly, the production and survival of newborn cells can be regulated by a variety of environmental and neurochemical stimuli. In particular, voluntary exercise in a running wheel is correlated with increased hippocampal neurogenesis, enhanced synaptic plasticity and improved performance in a spatial maze in adult rodents. It is the aim of our research to understand this unexpected form of plasticity of the adult central nervous system and to begin to define underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. It is our hope that this work may lead to methods of replacing or enhancing brain tissues lost or damaged due to neurodegeneration or injury.

Selected Publications:

van Praag H, Lucero MJ, Yeo GW, Stecker K, Heivand N, Zhao C, Yip E, Afanador M, Schroeter H, Hammerstone J, Gage FH. Plant-derived flavanol (-)epicatechin enhances angiogenesis and retention of spatial memory in mice. J Neurosci. 2007;27(22):5869-5878.

Toni N, Teng EM, Bushong EA, Aimone JB, Zhao C, Consiglio A, van Praag H, Martone ME, Ellisman MH, Gage FH. Synapse formation on neurons born in the adult hippocampus. Nat Neurosci. 2007;10(6):727-734.

van Praag H, Shubert T, Zhao C, Gage FH. Exercise enhances learning and hippocampal neurogenesis in aged mice. J Neurosci. 2005;25(38):8680-8685.

Farmer J, Zhao X, van Praag H, Wodtke K, Gage FH, Christie BR. Effects of voluntary exercise on synaptic plasticity and gene expression in the dentate gyrus of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats in vivo. Neuroscience. 2004;124(1):71-79.

Rhodes JS, van Praag H, Jeffrey S, Girard I, Mitchell GS, Garland T Jr, Gage FH. Exercise increases hippocampal neurogenesis to high levels but does not improve spatial learning in mice bred for increased voluntary wheel running. Behav Neurosci. 2003;117(5):1006-1016.

Brown J, Cooper-Kuhn CM, Kempermann G, Van Praag H, Winkler J, Gage FH, Kuhn HG. Enriched environment and physical activity stimulate hippocampal but not olfactory bulb neurogenesis. Eur J Neurosci. 2003;17(10):2042-2046.

van Praag H, Schinder AF, Christie BR, Toni N, Palmer TD, Gage FH. Functional neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. Nature. 2002;415(6875):1030-1034.

Allen DM, van Praag H, Ray J, Weaver Z, Winrow CJ, Carter TA, Braquet R, Harrington E, Ried T, Brown KD, Gage FH, Barlow C. Ataxia telangiectasia mutated is essential during adult neurogenesis. Genes Dev. 2001;15(5):554-566.

van Praag H, Christie BR, Sejnowski TJ, Gage FH. Running enhances neurogenesis, learning, and long-term potentiation in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1999;96(23):13427-13431.

van Praag H, Kempermann G, Gage FH. Running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus. Nat Neurosci. 1999;2(3):266-270.

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Updated: Thursday October 11, 2007