Researchers confirm the importance of exercise for cognitive function

Researchers confirm the importance of exercise for cognitive function

Evidence is accumulating that exercise can improve brain function and delay or prevent the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. While the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, recent research suggests that exercise-induced activation of peripheral systems such as muscle, intestine, liver and adipose tissue may influence neural plasticity. A special issue of Brain Plasticity presents new research and insights into neuronal plasticity and the role of peripheral factors in cognitive health.

At least a dozen peripheral factors have been identified that influence neurotrophin levels, adult neurogenesis, inflammation, synaptic plasticity, and memory function.”

Henriette van Praag, PhD, co-guest editor and journal editor-in-chief, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and Brain Institute, Florida Atlantic University

Cathepsin B (CTSB), a myokine, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) were found to have robust neuroprotective effects. In a new study presented in the special issue, researchers examined whether increasing aerobic exercise intensity would increase the amount of CTSB and BDNF circulating in the blood. Sixteen young healthy subjects performed treadmill-based aerobic exercise at maximum capacity and then at 40%, 60%, and 80% of capacity.

Circulating CTSB and BDNF were measured in blood samples collected after each exercise session, and CTSB protein, BDNF protein and mRNA expression were measured in skeletal tissue. The researchers found that high-intensity exercise increased circulating CTSB in young adults immediately after exercise and that skeletal muscle tissue expressed both the message and protein of CTSB and BDNF.

“CTSB and BDNF are promising therapeutic targets that may delay the onset and progression of cognitive impairment,” said lead researcher Jacob M. Haus, PhD, School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan. “Future studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate their release, processing and fiber type-specific roles in skeletal muscle tissue.”

The special issue also shares new research that CTSB may play a role in cognitive control by modulating processing speed, and that both moderate- and high-intensity interval exercise increase serum BDNF levels and working memory performance in young adult women.

Five review articles address the interorganic crosstalk between muscle, liver, adipose tissue, the intestinal microbiome and the brain. Although exercise is known to protect the central nervous system, it has only recently been found to be dependent on the endocrine capacity of skeletal muscle. In their review, co-authors Mamta Rai, PhD, and Fabio Demontis, PhD, both of the Division of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, highlight the effects of myokines, metabolites, and other unconventional factors that mediate the action of muscle-brain and muscle-retinal communication via neurogenesis, Neurotransmitter synthesis, proteostasis, mood, sleep, cognitive function and nutritional behavior after exercise.

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They also raise the possibility that deleterious myokines resulting from inactivity and muscle disease states could become a new focus for therapeutic intervention. “We propose that adjusting muscle-central nerve signaling through modulation of myokines and myometabolites can combat age-related neurodegeneration and brain diseases influenced by system signals,” they said.

Men and women show differences in their biological responses to physical activities and also in their susceptibility to the onset, progression and consequences of neurodegenerative diseases. A review by co-authors Constanza J. Cortes, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Zurine De Miguel, PhD, California State University, discusses new research on gender differences in the immune system's response to exercise as a potential mechanism through which exercise affects the brain.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that the immune response to exercise may be enhanced in women, but further studies are needed,” noted Dr. Cortes and Dr. De Miguel firmly. “To explain sex differences in cognitive aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases and to develop new therapeutic targets, cross-disciplinary research that integrates neuroscience, exercise physiology and geroscience is required.”

Research on cross-talk between brain and adipose tissue, particularly a hormone that can cross the BBB and has been shown to improve neuronal function in animal models of Alzheimer's disease; increasing evidence that neurogenesis can be regulated by the gut microbiome; and research on the effects of exercise and diet on BDNF signaling in the hippocampus, suggesting approaches to treating neurodegenerative diseases, are also reviewed.

“The research collected in this issue confirms the importance of exercise for memory function,” said co-guest editor Christiane D. Wrann, PhD, DVM, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "We are pleased to share this exciting special issue. Many more systemic molecules relevant to the brain are likely to be discovered in the coming years and could provide a basis for new therapeutic approaches to neurodegenerative diseases."

Source:

IOS Press

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