New Reason to Hit the Gym: Fighting Memory Loss
Newswise — Research has shown that people who exercise do better on memory
tests. Now a new Columbia University Medical Center study explains specifically
what exercise does within the brain. Exercise, the researchers found, targets a
region of the brain within the hippocampus, known as the dentate gyrus, which
underlies normal age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most
adults.
This finding is significant because it was accomplished via the first-ever
observation of neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, within a living brain. Using
an MRI imaging technique developed at Columbia, the researchers were able to
identify neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus region following exercise.
Previously, researchers were only able to prove neurogenesis upon postmortem
exam in animal studies.
“No previous research has systematically examined the different regions of
the hippocampus and identified which region is most affected by exercise,” said
Scott A. Small, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Columbia University
Medical Center and the study’s lead author. “I, like many physicians, already
encourage my patients to get active and this adds yet another reason to the long
list of reasons why exercise is good for overall health.”
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding builds upon previous research at Columbia that identified the role of the dentate gyrus region of the hippocampus in normal age-related memory decline. Additionally, Fred “Rusty”
Gage, Ph.D. of the Salk Institute, a lead co-investigator on this study, had
demonstrated in mice that the dentate gyrus is the one area of the brain where
new neurons are generated, and that exercise improves this process. This is the
first human study to emerge out of this observation.
“Our next step is to
identify the exercise regimen that is most beneficial to improve cognition and
reduce normal memory loss, so that physicians may be able to prescribe specific
types of exercise to improve memory,” said Dr. Small, who is also a research
scholar at the Columbia University Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s
Disease and the Aging Brain.
Additional Columbia researchers who contributed to this study include: Ana C.
Pereira, Rene Hen, Dan E. Huddleston, Adam M. Brickman, Alexander A. Sosunov,
Guy M. McKhann, Truman R. Brown and Richard Sloan.