Progesterone treatment in rats after severe global cerebral ischemia promotes hippocampal dentate gyrus neurogenesis and functional recovery.

These findings show that post-ischemia P4 treatment, following an episode of severe global cerebral ischemia, promotes the survival of newly generated hippocampal neurons in the DG, which may be one of the mechanisms of cerebral plasticity induced by the hormone, that underlie a successful functional performance in learning and memory tests.