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LiveScience
LiveScience
Marilyn Perkins

Can adults grow new brain cells?

An illustration of a brain made up of a network of tiny rainbow lines.

The developing human brain gains billions of neurons while in the womb, and tacks on some more during childhood. For most of the 20th century, the conventional wisdom was that the brain cells grown before adulthood would be the only ones we would have for the rest of our lives. But over the past few decades, more and more research is challenging that belief.

So is it actually possible for adults to grow neurons? While some experts believe there's strong evidence that we can gain brain cells after childhood, others are still skeptical of this notion.

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