The Cell Press journal reported that a small study from the University of Pisa and the Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR) have found that exercise may improve the plasticity of the adult brain, which was thought to decline with age.
Read more: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215012889
Physical activity may leave the brain more open to change | EurekAlert! Science News
Learning, memory, and brain repair depend on the ability of our neurons to change with experience. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 7 have evidence from a small study in people that exercise may enhance this essential plasticity of the adult brain.The findings focused on the visual cortex come as hopeful news for people with conditions including amblyopia (sometimes called lazy eye), traumatic brain injury, and more, the researchers say.”We provide the first demonstration that moderate levels of physical activity enhance neuroplasticity in the visual cortex of adult humans,” says Claudia Lunghi of the University of Pisa in Italy.”By showing that moderate levels of physical activity can boost the plastic potential of the adult visual cortex, our results pave the way to the development of non-invasive therapeutic strategies exploiting the intrinsic brain plasticity in adult subjects,” she adds.The plastic potential of the cerebral cortex is greatest early in life, when the developing brain is molded by experience. …
###This research has received funding from the European Research Council.Current Biology, Lunghi and Sale: “A cycling lane for brain rewiring” http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.10.026Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. For more information please visit http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive media alerts for Cell Press journals, contact press@cell.com.
Source: Physical activity may leave the brain more open to change | EurekAlert! Science News
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