| Summary: | Depression has a devastating impact on both the individual and society. Depression is usually treated with a chronic antidepressant, resulting in behavior modification. The mechanisms that cause depression are unknown and the resulting behavioral response seen with antidepressant therapy is also poorly understood. Animal models have shown that one response induced by chronic antidepressant therapy is increased neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. (Malberg, 2004). It has been hypothesized that the enhanced neurogenesis is a causative factor in antidepressant-mediated behavioral modification, but has not been well proven. Using a two-by-two experimental design and with a more effective tool than previously used in other studies to block neurogenesis, we tested the relationship between enhanced neurogenesis, i.e. the number of new neurons in the dentate gyrus, in response to chronic antidepressant treatment and the behavioral modifications that take place. Our findings suggest that blocking neurogenesis results in increased learning over control animals.
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