In her lab at King's College London, Sandrine Thuret studies adult neurogenesis -- the process by which adult brains create new nerve cells. (Until the 1990s, we didn't even know they did this!)

Thuret's work focuses on the hippocampus, the area of the brain that is related to memory, and her work asks two big questions: How can we help our healthy brains create new nerve cells throughout our lives, through diet and behavior changes? And how can we study the effects of diseases such as depression and Alzheimer's on our brains' ability to grow?