Parkinson's disease, anxious depression and serotonin--zooming in on hippocampal neurogenesis

This editorial highlights a study by deusser et al. (2015) published in this issue of j neurochem. In a mouse model of parkinson's disease (pd), the authors observed a topographically restricted reduction in serotonergic fibres in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. This phenotype was observed close to the neurogenic niche and was accompanied by an impaired fluoxetine response of hippocampal neuroblasts. In conclusion, alpha-synuclein inclusions in the serotonergic system may account for anxiety and depression symptoms in pd. Dcx, doublecortin; gfap, glial fibrillary acidic protein.