2023-05-27 22:23:05
Researchers from Atlantic University in Florida and the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico looked at the long-term effects of running on the brains of mice. They found that middle-aged rodents with access to an exercise wheel maintained the wiring of older memory-related neurons better.
This text is a translation of a article from CTV News.
«Our study provides information on how regular exercise, started in adulthood and continued, helps maintain memory functions as we age, underscoring the importance of including exercise in our daily lives,” said Carmen Vivar, co-author of the study and researcher at the National Polytechnic Institute, in a press release.
The researchers focused on neurons formed during early adulthood that were connected to the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with learning and memory. The hippocampus and connections to adjacent parts of the brain are among the first structures affected by age-related cognitive decline, which can be delayed or prevented in part by exercise, according to the study.
“Long-term running can improve our capacity for pattern separation, that is, our ability to distinguish between very similar events and stimuli, a behavior closely related to neurogenesis in adults, which is the ‘one of the first to show deficits indicative of age-related memory decline,’ Vivar said.
The study also showed that long-term running can increase the number of newly formed neurons in adults, which are important signaling cells in our brains and bodies.
“Long-term exercise profoundly benefits the aging brain and may prevent age-related decline in memory function by increasing survival and altering the network of newly formed neurons in adults born during early childhood. adulthood, thereby facilitating their participation in cognitive processes,” explained Henriette van Praag, co-author of the study and associate professor of biomedical sciences at Atlantic University in Florida, in the press release.
The study was published this month in the academic journal eNeuro.
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