ABOVE: © JULIA MOORE
It’s no secret that exercise is good for the brain. In looking for mechanisms that could underlie such cognitive benefits, researchers have found evidence of neuronal growth and maturation and an increased volume of the hippocampus. At the molecular level, rodent experiments point to the demethylation of the promoter region of Bdnf, a gene that encodes the neurogenesis-boosting signaling factor of the same name. There’s even evidence that male mice can pass on the cognitive benefits of physical activity to their offspring through microRNAs carried in the sperm.
Disruptions in the way the voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.7 regulates the entry of sodium ions into sensory neurons can cause extreme pain—or eliminate it altogether. When the channel is overactive, pain-sensing neurons fire more, causing agony. When it is missing, people and animals are largely numb to pain. Researchers are now targeting the voltage-sensing domains of NaV1.7 to ...
