Exercise and the brain: something to chew on

By H. van Praag. 2009

612 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Evidence is accumulating that exercise has profound benefits for brain function. Physical activity improves learning and memory in humans and animals. Moreover, an active lifestyle might prevent or delay loss of cognitive function with aging or neurodegenerative disease. Recent research indicates that the effects of exercise on the brain can be enhanced by concurrent consumption of natural products such as omega fatty acids or plant polyphenols. The potential synergy between diet and exercise could involve common cellular pathways important for neurogenesis, cell survival, synaptic plasticity and vascular function. Optimal maintenance of brain health might depend on exercise and intake of natural products.

Subfields: Developmental Neuroscience, Physiology

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Citations in the corpus

New neurons and new memories: how does adult hippocampal neurogenesis affect learning and memory? (2010, background): “Increasing evidence suggests that physical exercise not only improves the physical health of individuals but also improves cognition and other brain function”
Determinants of the induction of cortical plasticity by non‐invasive brain stimulation in healthy subjects (2010, background): “There is now good evidence that regular aerobic exercise can modify plasticity (for review see Kramer & Erickson, 2007) and improve learning and memory in both animals and humans (see van Praag, 2009).”
Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Functioning and Wellbeing: Biological and Psychological Benefits (2018, background): “…noradrenalin, and acetylcholine (Lista and Sorrentino, 2010; for a review, see Lin and Kuo, 2013) and induces the release of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF Vaynman et al., 2004; Lafenetre et al., 2011) and the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1; for a review, van Praag, 2009).”
Effects of Physical Activity on Children’s Executive Function: Contributions of Experimental Research on Aerobic Exercise (2010, background): “Diamond (2000) reviewed several areas of research suggesting a close neural link between, and substantial co-activation of, the cerebellum, critical for complex and coordinated movement, and dorso-lateral PFC (DL-PFC), critical for EF.”