Olfactory enrichment enhances the survival of newly born cortical neurons in adult mice

Neurogenesis persists in the adult rodent olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulbs. Recent studies suggest that neurogenesis might also occur in the adult rodent piriform cortex, the primary cortical projection site of the olfactory bulbs. To determine whether olfactory enrichment influences neurogenesis in the mouse piriform cortex, olfactory enrichment was used in combination with bromodeoxyuridine labeling. Quantification of the number of bromodeoxyuridine-labeled cells in the piriform cortex that double label for either the immature neuronal marker, doublecortin, or the mature neuronal marker, neuronal nuclei or NeuN, showed that olfactory enrichment increases the survival of newborn neurons in the piriform cortex. These results confirm that neurogenesis occurs in the piriform cortex of rodents and suggest that it may play a neuroplastic role there.