2023-04-20 19:28:00
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Do you often turn off a bad mood by going to the local gym? While it’s hardly a secret that exercise can improve both mental and physical health, new research reveals that exercise may also improve brain health more directly. Scientists at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology report that the chemical signals released by exercising muscles encourage the development of neurons in the brain.
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When our muscles contract during exercise, for example while lifting heavy weights, many compounds enter the bloodstream. These compounds are able to move to different parts of the body, including the brain. The authors of the study put some emphasis on how exercise may or may not benefit a certain part of the brain called the hippocampus.
“The hippocampus is an essential area for learning and memory, and therefore cognitive health,” explains Ki Yoon Lee, Ph.D. student in mechanical science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and lead author of the study, in a press release.
A clearer understanding of how exercise benefits the hippocampus in particular could help generate new exercise-based therapies for a variety of conditions including Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, in order to isolate the chemicals released by contracting muscles and test them on neurons in the hippocampus, the research team collected small samples of muscle cells from a group of mice and grew them in cell culture dishes in their laboratory. Once the cells matured, they began to shrink on their own, releasing their chemical signals to the cell culture.
The researchers then added the culture, which at this stage contained the chemical signals from the mature muscle cells, to another culture containing neurons in the hippocampus as well as other supporting cells called astrocytes. Using several different measures, including immunofluorescent and calcium imaging to track cell growth and multi-electrode arrays to record neuronal electrical activity, the study authors were able to assess how exposure to these chemical signals affects hippocampal cells.
The results that followed were amazing. Exposure to the chemical signals from contracting muscle cells caused neurons in the hippocampus to produce larger and more frequent electrical signals, considered a sign of robust growth and health. Over the next few days, the neurons began to fire the electrical signals more synchronously. This suggests, the researchers say, that the neurons together formed a more mature network, mimicking the organization of neurons in the brain.
Still, the research team has several questions about how these chemical signals led to the growth and development of neurons in the hippocampus. In an effort to better understand the pathway linking physical activity to better brain health, they chose to focus their attention forward on the role of astrocytes in mediating this relationship.
“Astrocytes are the first responders in the brain before the compounds from the muscles reach the neurons,” Lee explains, noting that they may have played a role in helping the neurons respond to these signals.
Researchers also found that removing astrocytes from the cell cultures caused the neurons to fire even more electrical signals, suggesting that without the astrocytes, the neurons would continue to grow—perhaps even to the point where they might become unmanageable.
“Astrocytes play a critical role in mediating the effects of exercise,” Lee adds. “By regulating neural activity and preventing over-excitation of neurons, astrocytes contribute to the balance necessary for optimal brain function.”
In conclusion, the study authors say that shedding light on the chemical pathway between muscle contraction and the growth and regulation of neurons in the hippocampus is only the first step in understanding how exercise helps improve brain health.
“Ultimately, our research may contribute to the development of more effective exercise regimens for cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease,” Lee concludes.
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