Mice lacking irisin didn’t exhibit the cognition improvements that typically follow exercise, and in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, treatment with the hormone reduced cognitive decline.
Obese mice that exercised while pregnant gave birth to pups that grew up free of the metabolic issues present in the adult young of sedentary obese mothers—possibly by staving off epigenetic changes to a key metabolic gene.
Men given high doses of two antihistamine drugs did not experience the same benefits of high intensity interval training that men on a placebo enjoyed, revealing some of the molecular underpinnings of exercise’s effect.
Healthy people put through high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, displayed insulin resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction after working out excessively.
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.
A study in two macaques reveals the importance of increasing connectivity between muscles and the reticulospinal tract that runs from the brain stem down the spinal cord.
Researchers found that people who spend more time outdoors also spend more time being active and socializing, but it probably doesn’t account for all of the health boost associated with green spaces.
New, unpublished results show some of the cells produce new neurons for up to 90 days, much longer than a previously identified set of neural stem cells that only generate neurons for a month or two.
Physical activity, independent of diet, shifts the composition of bacteria in the intestines, spurring researchers to search for species that might provide benefits akin to working out.
A mouse study finds that when blood platelets are activated during exercise, they release factors that increase the number of newborn neurons in the hippocampus.
