The benefits of exercise on human and animal brains is well-established, and multiple studies have identified signals and changes within the body that might underlie these effects. A study published yesterday (December 8) in Nature identifies another, showing that the brain benefits of exercise can be transferred from active and sedentary mice via a plasma protein called clusterin.
“Previous research from my lab and others showed plasma factors that circulate in blood can affect the brain. So the question was; Are plasma factors induced by exercise affecting the brain during exercise, and in which way?” study coauthor and neuropsychologist Zurine De Miguel tells The Scientist.
To answer this question, De Miguel, then at Stanford University, and her colleagues kept mice in their habitats for 28 days with either a functional or locked wheel. Plasma was extracted from the blood of both groups, and an experimental group of sedentary mice was ...
