Infographic: How Weight Lifting Changes Monkeys’ Neural Connections

After weeks of training, the muscles of two macaques exhibited greater responses to stimulation of the reticulospinal tract in the brain stem than they had before, suggesting that strengthening the neural pathway is key to getting stronger.

Written byJef Akst

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Over the course of two months, researchers trained macaque monkeys to lift more and more weight, until they were able to do the equivalent of a one-armed pull-up. When the researchers stimulated a bundle of nerves in the spinal cord known as the reticulospinal tract (RST), they saw increases in the resulting neuronal electrical signals in the monkeys’ arm muscles as training progressed, while they did not see the same consistent upward trend in the muscles’ responses to stimulation of the corticospinal tract (CST). The results suggest that RST connectivity may play a critical role in muscle strengthening.

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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