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The brain benefits from physical activity in many ways, including boosts to memory, mood, and learning. According to a paper published Thursday (July 9) in Science, it appears possible to transfer those benefits of exercise through blood transplants, at least in mice. The authors point to an enzyme known as glycosylphosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase D1 (Gpld1), produced during exercise, as a likely agent responsible for mice’s improved memory and learning skills after receiving a transfusion from mice that had worked out.
Previous studies have shown that transfusing blood from young mice into older mice conferred a benefit. According to Science, conversations between lead author Saul Villeda of the University of California, San Francisco, and others led them to question whether a similar effect could occur with blood transfusions from active mice into more sedentary ones of the same age.
“Can your brain think that you exercised, ...
