Neural stem cell niche heterogeneity

•Neural stem cells are not equally plastic homogeneous cells, but rather a combination of distinct subpopulations.•The cerebrospinal fluid is an essential component of the neural stem cell niche.•Neural stem cells auto-regulate themselves.•Innervations release neurotransmitters to neural stem cells, and affect neural stem cell behavior.•The biggest challenge remains to study the neural stem cell niche in humans. In mammals, new neurons can be generated from neural stem cells in specific regions of the adult brain. Neural stem cells are characterized by their abilities to differentiate into all neural lineages and to self-renew. The specific microenvironments regulating neural stem cells, commonly referred to as neurogenic niches, comprise multiple cell populations whose precise contributions are under active current exploration. Understanding the cross-talk between neural stem cells and their niche components is essential for the development of therapies against neurological disorders in which neural stem cells function is altered. In this review, we describe and discuss recent studies that identified novel components in the neural stem cell niche. These discoveries bring new concepts to the field. Here, we evaluate these recent advances that change our understanding of the neural stem cell niche heterogeneity and its influence on neural stem cell function.