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It’s well established that exercise is good for the mammalian brain. As early as 1999, researchers discovered considerably more newborn neurons in the hippocampi of mice that had access to a running wheel than in animals that didn’t. But 20 years later, scientists are still trying to understand why.
A team of Australian and German researchers has uncovered one mechanism that explains how exercise boosts neurogenesis in mice: the activity causes platelets circulating in the blood to release factors that boost the growth of neural precursor cells in the hippocampus, the researchers report today (March 21) in Stem Cell Reports.
“We all know about the positive effect of exercise on the brain and other organ systems, but what the actual mechanism is to promote new neuron production is still a bit of a mystery,” remarks Vince Tropepe, who studies neurogenesis at the University of Toronto and ...
