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Activity boosts brain cells

Moderate physical activity, such as going for a leisurely walk, generates new brain nerve cells, according to new research involving caged mice.

The startling new study supports a link between maintaining an active physical life and lower risk of neurodegenerative disease.

It bolsters evidence that active older people seem to have a lower risk of certain neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's Disease.

The study published in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology, the research publication of the American Neurological Association, demonstrates how this increased activity might protect the brain.

Activity reduces the effect of aging on the brain
Researchers in Germany and the United States collaborated to show that older mice that live in an enriched environment, generate (and keep) higher numbers of new nerve cells linked to memory functions.

"Our study suggests that, in mice, we can reduce the effects of aging on the brain with a sustained active and challenging life, even if this stimulation is only begun in middle age," said lead author Gerd Kempermann, a researcher at the Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany.

Kempermann advises caution in extrapolating animal data to humans but is hopeful that these results are relevant also for humans.

"Activity will certainly do no harm and most likely benefit people if they use our results as a motivation to be more active. They might even do something good for the nerve cells that are involved in learning and memory processes," said Kempermann.

Activity also boosts memory, study shows
The report links two separate lines of research. The first is a host of studies in recent years showing that people who are more active in middle and later years, either intellectually or physically, are not as susceptible to cognitive decline or neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease.

The second line of research has revolved around the hippocampus, a structure in the brain critical for normal cognitive functions and the storage of new memories.

The hippocampus is one of the few brain areas that continually generate new nerve cells in adults, leading scientists to speculate that they could counteract the negative effects of normal aging – and possibly even Alzheimer's and other disorders - by stimulating this regenerative process.

Previous studies have shown that exposing mice to an "enriched" environment increases production of hippocampal nerve cells. This effect occurs in both old and young mice.

The current study sought to determine whether this production can be sustained over a long period in middle and later life, and whether there are any corresponding effects on mental abilities.

Exercise even effective among the elderly
Kempermann and colleagues housed mice in one of two ways: in a standard small, bare cage shared with a few other mice or in an "enriched" environment consisting of a large cage with plastic tunnels, running wheel, and other objects, shared with many other mice. The enriched environment was also rearranged periodically.

The mice lived this way between the ages of 10 and 20 months, middle to old age in the average mouse life span of 24 months.

Remarkably, at the end of this 10-month period, the old mice in the enriched environment were generating five times as many new hippocampal nerve cells as the control mice in the standard, unchanging environment. This finding shows that the activity can have a sustained effect, even on older animals.

The animals in the enriched environment also showed significant improvements over the controls on various behavioural tests.

When placed in a new environment, they explored and then adapted to the environment more quickly than control mice. In a standard learning test, they also outperformed the controls.

"It is not clear how far the amazing regeneration of the hippocampus can be used to treat disorders that have already done structural damage. It is likely that there is some capacity for this, but nobody knows how this might be achieved," said Kempermann. - (SAPA)

Read more:
Brain workouts keep dementia at bay
How memory works

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