Research has again confirmed what we already knew: exercise can improve your brain function by
increasing neurogenesis (the creation of new neurons).
However,
increasing neurogenesis after memory formation induced infantile amnesia in these species.
Consistent with this,
increasing neurogenesis after the formation of a memory was sufficient to induce forgetting in adult mice.
Thus,
increasing neurogenesis is a potential treatment for a variety of disorders that would benefit from improving cognitive capacity.
The most convincing studies have shown a connection between stress, neurogenesis and depression: Stress can decrease neurogenesis, and antidepressants can
increase neurogenesis.
Now a research team, led by Dr Diego Gomez - Nicola from the Centre for Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton, has detected
increased neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus that partially counteracts neuronal loss.
Exercise can
increase neurogenesis in mice by more than 50 %, so the researchers gave a separate group of adult mice wheels to run in.
There was no significant increase in progranulin protein levels in the frontal cortex (Fig. 4B h), thalamus (Fig. 4C i), or hippocampus (Fig. 4D j), despite observing the expected increase in doublecortin - positive neurons in the dentate gyrus (Fig. 4E t), indicating
increased neurogenesis as a positive control.
But voluntary exercise on a running wheel for two months at a young age
increased neurogenesis in the hippocampus and largely prevented learning and memory deficits.
PLXDC2 is a mitogen and
increases neurogenesis, resulting in thickening of the neural tube at the early stages of development (Miller et al, 2007; Miller - delaney et al, 2011).
Walnuts also contain polyphenolic compounds such as pedunculagin which can reduce the inflammatory load on brain cells, enhance neural connections, and
increase neurogenesis (new neuron creation in the brain).
Transgenerational effects of caloric restriction on longevity, B - vitamins silencing bad genes, cognitive stimulation revering neurodegenerative disease, exercise
increases neurogenesis, and vitamin D controls aging.
Weight training, on the other hand, while extremely beneficial for muscular health, has previously been shown to have little effect on the body's levels of B.D.N.F., Dr. Nokia said, which could explain why it did not contribute to
increased neurogenesis in this study.
Other rodent experiments have showed
increased neurogenesis in brains of rats maintained on an alternate - day fasting diet, as evident by increased number of newly generated neural cells in the hippocampus (21).
Caffeinated coffee increased plasma levels of granulocyte - colony stimulating factor (GCSF), which seemed to improve the cognitive performance of AD transgenic mice with the recruitment of bone marrow cells, enhanced synaptogenesis, and
increased neurogenesis.
Exercise treatment for bipolar disorder: potential mechanisms of action mediated through
increased neurogenesis and decreased allostatic load
Not exact matches
Stress and schizophrenia — known to decrease
neurogenesis — are associated with
increased drug taking and relapse.
The authors conclude that there is a direct connection between
neurogenesis and addiction, one that does not necessarily involve stress, and it could be the tipping point,
increasing the vulnerability to addiction in one person rather than another.
The continuation of this line of research is opening new avenues to identify what specific signals are used to promote this
increased neurogenic response, with views focused in targeting
neurogenesis as a therapeutic approach to promote the regeneration of lost neurons.»
«Although running induces both substantial changes in number and morphology of young neurons as well as significant changes in learning behavior, this does not prove a causal relationship,» noted Professor Bischofberger, «Nevertheless, our results, together with previous findings, suggest that the enhanced pattern separation during memory testing is most likely mediated via running - induced
increase in adult
neurogenesis.»
Although the precise role of
neurogenesis in memory is still controversial, more than a decade of research has demonstrated that boosting
neurogenesis with exercise and antidepressants such as Prozac can
increase rodents» ability to learn new information about places and events.
Overstreet - Wadiche and UAB colleagues posed a basic question: Since the number of neurons in the dentate gyrus
increases by
neurogenesis while the number of neurons in the cortex remains the same, does the brain create additional synapses from the cortical neurons to the new granule cells, or do some cortical neurons transfer their connections from mature granule cells to the new granule cells?
«Sustained aerobic exercise
increases adult
neurogenesis in brain.»
It is possible that by promoting
neurogenesis via sustained aerobic exercise, the neuron reserve of the hippocampus can be
increased and thus also the preconditions for learning improved — also in humans.
Slow - onset adaptive changes that arise from sustained antidepressant treatment, such as enhanced adult hippocampal
neurogenesis and
increased trophic factor expression, play a key role in the
Together, these experiments show that multiple exercise protocols sufficient to
increase hippocampal BDNF and
neurogenesis do not meaningfully
increase progranulin in Grn + / − mice.
We found that exercise did not produce sufficient
increases in progranulin mRNA or protein levels in hippocampus, frontal cortex, or thalamus of 4 - to 8 - month - old Grn + / − mice under conditions that were sufficient to
increase hippocampal BDNF and activate
neurogenesis.
This is consistent with the well - known neurotrophic effects of exercise, which include
increases in hippocampal BDNF and hippocampal
neurogenesis (Neeper et al., 1995; van Praag et al., 1999a, b).
To reach this aim we study adult
neurogenesis in the mouse brain and use environmental enrichment (as a cognitive stimulus) and voluntary physical activity as stimuli to
increase adult
neurogenesis.
We asked whether the
increase in neural stem and progenitor cells could produce a subsequent change in olfactory
neurogenesis in the Het - O mice.
It
increases the blood flow and feeds the brain with more oxygen, it aids the release of hormones and stimulates a process known as
neurogenesis, i.e. the brain's ability to grow new brain cells and adapt existing ones.
Secondly, fasting can
increase the level of the brain - derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), one of the most important neurotrophins when it comes to stimulating and managing
neurogenesis, by up to 40 %.
Neurogenesis also
increases testosterone levels.
But whether other forms of exercise likewise prompt
increases in
neurogenesis has been unknown and is an issue of
increasing interest, given the growing popularity of workouts such as weight training and high - intensity intervals.
But, what I want to ask you is about Beta - hydroxybutyrate, the fact that it
increases brain - derived neurotrophic factor production, which is also important for learning, memory and
neurogenesis.
There are many other benefits to intermittent fasting, such as
increased longevity, cellular detoxification, improved mental focus,
neurogenesis and more.
Most important, intermittent fasting
increases neuronal plasticity and
neurogenesis, making it easier for your brain to grow and evolve (2).
Using similar techniques, they were able to show that brain aging is due reduce
neurogenesis of brain stem cells and that a circulating factor called CCL11 / Endotaxin
increase with aging.
I suspect that aerobic training (which we know can stimulate
neurogenesis (hippocampus),
increase heart rate variability, reduce stress etc...) would be an important area of this research.
Animals exposed to enriched environments high in stimulation have been shown to display
increased hippocampal cell proliferation and
neurogenesis compared with those reared in relative deprivation.7 Poverty represents a form of human deprivation that may parallel this animal model, raising the question of whether low levels of stimulation and relative psychosocial neglect associated with poverty have a similar negative effect on human brain development.