Exercise May Improves Connectivity in Aging Brain

Nerve transmission in aging synapses might be enhanced by exercise or physical activity in older adults as per a study at the University of California, San Francisco, published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. The study shows that exercise helps in increasing the number of specific proteins that enhance the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition. The findings were also relevant in the brain of those with Alzheimer’s disease pathology.

It is known that abnormal accumulation of toxic amyloid followed by tau proteins in Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for causing the neuron and their synapses to fall apart.

“Our work is the first that uses human data to show that synaptic protein regulation is related to physical activity and may drive the beneficial cognitive outcomes we see. Maintaining the integrity of these connections between neurons may be vital to fending off dementia, since the synapse is really the site where cognition happens. Physical activity—a readily available tool—may help boost this synaptic functioning,” says Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD, an assistant professor of neurology, a neuropsychologist, and member of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, and lead author of the study.

Source-Medindia