Yes, probably—but only in a specific part of the brain and with important limits. The strongest current evidence supports neural stem cells, neuroblasts and immature neurons in the adult human hippocampus, particularly the dentate gyrus. Researchers have not yet established how many of these cells become mature neurons, how often they integrate into working circuits, or exactly what they do for human memory and cognition.
What “growing new brain cells” means
When people ask whether adults can grow new brain cells, they usually mean adult neurogenesis: the production of new neurons from neural stem or progenitor cells after development. This is different from learning, which mainly changes connections among existing neurons, and from repairing an injured brain, which involves several cell types and processes.
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Adult neurogenesis is not a claim that the entire adult brain continually replaces neurons. Human evidence is concentrated in the hippocampus, a structure involved in memory and spatial processing. Within it, the dentate gyrus is the region most often studied. Finding progenitor or immature-neuron populations there does not prove that a cell has completed division, matured normally and joined a functional human circuit.
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A large multiomic examination of adult hippocampus
A 2026 study by Disouky, Sanborn, Rehman, Lazarov and colleagues analyzed 355,997 nuclei from human hippocampal samples. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing together with chromatin-accessibility profiling, the researchers identified molecular profiles consistent with neural stem cells, neuroblasts and immature granule neurons.
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The samples covered several groups: young adults with intact cognition, older cognitively intact adults, “SuperAgers” with exceptional episodic-memory performance, adults with preclinical intermediate Alzheimer’s pathology and adults with Alzheimer’s disease. For a detailed regulatory analysis of young adults, the team profiled 85,977 nuclei from eight cognitively intact people aged 20–40.
These findings strengthen the case that adult human hippocampal tissue contains cells along a neurogenic pathway. They are not a live video of neurons being born. The tissue was collected after death, and the analysis identifies gene-expression and chromatin patterns associated with developmental states. The authors explicitly say that the origin and functional relevance of these cells remain poorly understood.
Changes associated with Alzheimer’s pathology and SuperAgers
The study reported early chromatin-accessibility changes in neurogenic cells from people with preclinical Alzheimer’s pathology, with more pronounced alterations in Alzheimer’s disease. It also found a distinct molecular profile in SuperAgers that may represent a resilience signature.
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Those are associations, not causes. The data do not show that newly generated neurons protect someone from Alzheimer’s disease, that losing them causes symptoms, or that increasing neurogenesis would improve memory. Age, disease biology, medication, lifestyle and tissue quality can all influence molecular profiles.
Why scientists still disagree
Two influential 2018 studies reached opposite conclusions
In 2018, Sorrells and colleagues reported that human hippocampal neurogenesis falls sharply during childhood and becomes undetectable in adults. In the same year, Boldrini and colleagues reported that immature neurons persist throughout adult life. Both studies examined post-mortem tissue, but they differed in sample handling, markers, counting approaches and interpretation.
A review by Gerd Kempermann and colleagues explains why these differences matter. Post-mortem delay can degrade molecular targets; fixation can hide or alter proteins; antibodies may not be equally specific across species; and the number and condition of available human samples are limited. A negative result for one marker under one protocol therefore does not prove that no new neurons exist.
The 2026 evidence updates the debate, but does not end it
The newer multiomic study adds molecular evidence for neurogenic cell populations that conventional staining may miss. It helps address some problems involving species-specific markers and cell classification. However, sequencing still produces a molecular snapshot rather than a lineage trace. Open questions remain about production rate, cell survival, maturation, integration and function.
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How researchers test for adult neurogenesis
Different methods answer different questions. Treating their results as interchangeable creates much of the apparent contradiction.
| Method | What it can indicate | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Cell birth-dating | Whether cells divided during a particular period, or an estimate of when they were born | Depends on labeling assumptions, timing and the ability to connect a label to a specific mature cell |
| Histological markers | Presence of proteins associated with progenitors or immature neurons in tissue sections | Marker sensitivity, antibody specificity, fixation and post-mortem delay can change what is detectable |
| Single-cell or single-nucleus sequencing | Gene-expression profiles that resemble stem cells, neuroblasts or immature neurons | A molecular signature is not direct proof of cell division, maturation or circuit integration |
| Chromatin-accessibility profiling | Regulatory regions that are open or changing in particular cell populations | Shows regulatory state and association, not a completed developmental history |
| Functional experiments in animals | Whether manipulating adult-born neurons changes memory-related behavior | Human researchers cannot perform the same targeted manipulations in living people |
Birth-dating with BrdU and carbon-14
BrdU and related labels can mark dividing cells in experimental settings. Human studies have also used naturally occurring carbon-14 from historical atmospheric changes to estimate when some neurons were born. These approaches can support turnover claims, but they rely on assumptions about labeling, cell identity and population mixing.
A 2026 methods review repeats a historical estimate of roughly 700 new neurons per day in the adult dentate gyrus, attributed to Spalding and colleagues in 2013. That is a model-based radiocarbon estimate, not a universally accepted modern count. It has limited spatial resolution and cannot by itself demonstrate that every estimated cell survives, matures and contributes to cognition.
Why tissue processing matters
Human neurogenesis research almost always uses post-mortem tissue. The interval between death and preservation, the chemicals used for fixation, storage conditions and the exact region sampled all affect the material available for analysis. A study with excellent sequencing can still be limited if fragile cell states were lost before processing.
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Classification is another challenge. Immature-neuron signatures can overlap with signatures of inhibitory neurons or stressed cells. Researchers must decide which genes, regulatory regions and computational clusters represent a genuine developmental stage. Different annotation rules can produce different estimates from similar tissue.
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What adult-born neurons might do
Evidence from rodents
Animal studies link adult-born hippocampal neurons with learning and memory processes, including pattern separation—the ability to distinguish similar experiences, places or events. Experiments can label, silence or stimulate newly generated neurons in rodents and then measure behavior.
Those results make biological functions plausible, but they do not demonstrate the same function in living humans. Human studies cannot routinely manipulate a defined cohort of newly born neurons and observe the cognitive result. The 2026 human study therefore leaves the contribution of these cells to cognition unresolved.
What human studies can and cannot claim
- Supported: adult human hippocampal samples contain molecular populations consistent with neural stem cells, neuroblasts and immature granule neurons.
- Not yet established: a precise, agreed rate at which adults produce fully mature hippocampal neurons.
- Not yet established: how many candidate cells survive long term and connect to functional circuits.
- Not yet established: whether variation in these cells directly changes memory, mood or other cognitive abilities.
Does exercise or a supplement increase human neurogenesis?
No consumer intervention has been established as a reliable way to increase adult human neurogenesis. Reviews discuss possible effects of exercise and other interventions, but proposed benefits remain unproven in humans at the level required to claim that a product grows new neurons.
Animal findings should not be turned into promises about a supplement, brain-training app, device or special diet. Even if an intervention changes a blood marker, hippocampal volume or test score, that does not demonstrate the birth and integration of new human neurons. Claims should specify the measured outcome rather than treating every cognitive improvement as evidence of neurogenesis.
How to interpret a new neurogenesis headline
- Identify the stage measured. Was the study measuring cell division, a progenitor, an immature-neuron marker, a molecular profile or a mature neuron integrated into a circuit?
- Check how the evidence was obtained. Birth-dating, post-mortem staining, sequencing and animal manipulation answer different questions.
- Look at the tissue and sample details. Note post-mortem delay, fixation, brain region, participant age and disease status.
- Separate association from causation. A molecular difference in Alzheimer’s disease or SuperAgers does not show that neurogenesis caused the condition or protected against it.
- Check whether the claim is human. A result in mice may suggest a mechanism, but it is not direct evidence of a human cognitive benefit.
- Read the authors’ limits. Strong papers distinguish a detected cell signature from proof of complete neuron production and function.
What is known, uncertain and unsupported
| Question | Best current answer |
|---|---|
| Can adults produce new cells in the brain? | Human evidence supports neurogenic cell populations in the hippocampus, especially the dentate gyrus. |
| Does the whole adult brain continually replace neurons? | No. The evidence does not support that broad claim. |
| How many new neurons are made? | No agreed modern human rate. The roughly 700-per-day figure is an older, model-based estimate attributed to Spalding et al. (2013). |
| Do candidate cells mature and integrate? | Some may, but the extent and reliability in humans remain unresolved. |
| Do they improve memory? | Rodent experiments suggest possible roles; direct human functional significance remains unknown. |
| Can a product be proven to boost neurogenesis? | No supplement, app, device or other consumer product is established for that purpose in humans. |
The most accurate bottom line
The statement “adults can grow new brain cells” is defensible only when it is narrowed to adult human hippocampal neurogenesis and qualified. The 2026 multiomic evidence makes the presence of neural stem-cell, neuroblast and immature-neuron populations more convincing, while also showing why the field is not finished. Scientists still need to determine how these cells arise, how many become mature neurons, whether they join functional circuits and what—if anything—they contribute to human cognition.
As the authors of Human hippocampal neurogenesis in adulthood, ageing and Alzheimer’s disease wrote in Nature in 2026: “The existence of human hippocampal neurogenesis has long been disputed and its relevance in cognition remains unknown.” That remains the clearest summary: adult hippocampal neurogenesis has substantial evidence behind it, but its scale and significance are still active scientific questions.
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