For more than six decades, neuroscientists have wrestled with a fundamental question about the human brain: Do adults continue to make new neurons, or are we born with all the brain cells we’ll ever have?

Experts discover how the hippocampus might grow new cells throughout life, even in old age. In a Nutshell A new study finds rare neural stem cells in the adult human hippocampus, suggesting some brains can generate new neurons into old age.

In the hippocampus, a critical brain region for learning and memory, new cells emerge in some people into late adulthood, according to a study published July 3 in the journal Science. The findings tip the scales in a still-active debate over how our brains continue to develop throughout life.