Exercise greatly benefits brain health, improving cognition, mood and reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Several new studies have demonstrated the profound impact of exercise on various biological systems, explaining its ability to improve health and fight disease. In this special article, we explore the latest research on how exercise can protect brain health as we age.
Exercise is linked to increased muscle strength, better heart health, lower blood sugar, and many other health benefits.
Activities such as running on a treadmill, cycling up a steep hill, lifting weights, or taking a brisk lunchtime walk provide a wide range of benefits that go beyond improving physical appearance or endurance.
Evidence from studies suggests that regular physical activity may improve mood, reduce stress and sharpen cognitive functions, highlighting the deep connection between body and mind.
However, different people may respond very differently to various forms of exercise, such as aerobic workouts or strength training.
While it is well known that regular exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle, some older research suggests that strenuous exercise could have negative effects.
More recent research, however, has shown that elite athletes have experienced slightly longer life expectancies over the decades.
Exercise significantly improves brain health by improving cognition, mood and reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases by promoting neurogenesis and
What does the latest evidence and expert opinion say about how regular physical activity helps maintain brain and overall health as we age?
As part of a new collaborative effort led by Stanford Medicine, researchers explored the underlying mechanisms by which exercise promotes overall health, particularly brain health.
By understanding how exercise affects different organs at the molecular level, healthcare providers could tailor exercise recommendations more effectively.
This knowledge could also pave the way for the development of drug therapies that mimic the benefits of exercise for those who are unable to engage in physical activity.
The study – whose conclusions appear in
His conclusion reveals remarkable effects of exercise on the immune system, stress response, energy production and metabolism.
The researchers identified significant links between exercise and molecules and genes already known to be involved in many human diseases and tissue recovery.
Other recent articles by Stanford Medicine researchers include a report in
THE Nature The study examined the effects of 8 weeks of endurance training on various biological systems, including gene expression (the transcriptome), proteins (the proteome), fats (the lipidome), metabolites (the metabolome), the chemical labels of DNA (the epigenome) and the immune system.
The researchers performed analyzes on different tissues from rats trained to run increasing distances and compared them to tissues from sedentary rats.
They focused on mitochondria in the muscles of the legs, heart, liver, kidneys, white adipose tissue – which accumulates as body fat – as well as the lungs, brain and brown adipose tissue – a Metabolically active fat that burns calories.
This comprehensive approach has generated hundreds of thousands of results on non-epigenetic changes and over 2 million distinct epigenetic changes in mitochondria, providing a rich database for future research.
Along with the main goal of creating a database, some notable findings emerged. For example, mitochondrial gene expression changed with exercise in different tissues.
The researchers found that training upregulated genes in the skeletal muscle mitochondria of rats, which were downregulated in the skeletal muscle mitochondria of individuals with type 2 diabetes.
They also showed that training upregulated genes in the rats’ liver mitochondria, which are downregulated in people with cirrhosis.
These two findings suggest that endurance training could help improve muscle function in diabetes, as well as improve liver health.
Finally, the researchers identified gender differences in how the tissues of male and female rats responded to exercise.
After 8 weeks, male rats lost about 5% of their body fat, while female rats did not lose a significant amount. However, female rats maintained their initial fat percentage, while sedentary females gained 4% more body fat over the course of the study.
The most dynamic difference was in mitochondrial gene expression after rat exercise in the adrenal glands.
The study authors propose that the differences observed due to exercise are largely due to changes in mitochondrial gene expression in organs and tissues responsible for maintaining energy balance.
Another study, this time carried out by a research group from the University of Queensland in Australia, and published in
The researchers examined gene expression in individual mouse brain cells and found that exercise profoundly influences gene expression in microglia, the immune cells that support central nervous system brain function.
Specifically, exercise returned the gene expression patterns of aged microglia to patterns similar to those observed in young microglia.
Experiments depleting microglia have demonstrated the need for exercise’s beneficial effects on the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region vital for memory, learning and emotion.
This study also found that giving mice access to a running wheel prevented or reduced the presence of T cells in the hippocampus as they aged.
These immune cells are generally absent in the brains of young people but increase with age.
Co-corresponding author Jana Vukovic, PhD, assistant professor and head of the Neuroimmunology and Cognition Laboratory at the University of Queensland, explained the key findings at Medical news today.
Vukovic explained that: “(T)he aging process affects all different cell types in the brain, with the greatest impact on the resident immune cells: microglia. Importantly, exercise returns the microglial genetic profile to its youthful state.
Understanding how exercise promotes brain health “is a key question for many scientists around the world,” Vukovic noted, adding that she and her colleagues “propose that exercise alters the immune landscape of the aging brain and allows therefore allowing immune cells to continue to support the nerve cells. function.”
“The role of microglia beyond their involvement in the removal of cellular debris is not very well understood. We know that microglia support the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus, an important structure for learning and memory. However, many other mechanisms could be at play.”
–Jana Vukovic, PhD
Ryan Glatt, CPT, NBC-HWC, senior brain health coach and director of the FitBrain program at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, who was not involved in these studies, said MNT they “highlight the multifaceted benefits of exercise on brain health, particularly via genetic regulation, mitochondrial function and immune response.”
“They offer valuable insights by merging molecular biology with practical health interventions for aging populations,” he added.
For example, “exercise improves synaptic plasticity and blood flow while reducing inflammation and increasing the expression of neurotrophic factors like
“Exercise can influence the expression of genes related to brain plasticity, inflammation and metabolism, while improving mitochondrial function and modulating immune responses. Hormonal changes from physical activity can also help improve mood and reduce stress.
– Ryan Glatt, CPT, NBC-HWC
Vukovic noted that “studies are underway to optimize exercise programs for older adults; However, Pilates is a good place to start for those looking to challenge their muscles.
Glatt agrees, adding that “aerobic exercises like cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and balance exercises are particularly beneficial for brain health, in both shared and unique ways.”
“Activities that combine physical and cognitive challenges, like dance or tai chi, may be particularly effective for certain aspects of brain health,” Glatt said.
Nevertheless, he cautioned that: “Although exercise is beneficial for brain health, individual variability due to genetics and baseline health status can affect results. Further research is needed to determine long-term sustainability and optimal exercise types and intensities for different populations.
News Source : www.medicalnewstoday.com
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