Me, My Brain and I: Building a Healthy Brain for Today and Tomorrow
SEMINAR IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Alyssa Martini, Jeff Mercurio, Valeria Moya
• Less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of
physical activity each day
• The American College of Sports Medicine recommends
adults exercise 150 minutes per week in multiple
intervals
• Exercise induces the production of brain cells in areas
dedicated to memory and learning!
• Alzheimer’s Disease is the sixth leading cause of death
in the U.S.
•
in the brain
• Structures of the brain
• Alzheimer’s disease
•
and
effects of exercise on the brain
• More brain cells
• Memory improvement
•
What kind of exercise should we
•
•
Effective forms of exercise
Intensity of exercise
in?
These structures are seen to decay with aging 
• Prevents
deterioration (Smith et al., 2014)
• Increases cell survival (van Praag et al., 1999a)
• Creates positive effects on
• van Praag, Kempermann and Gage (1999)
• Animal study
•
•
•
•
•
Mice
Learner: Water-maze
Swimmer: Forced to swim (involuntary exercise)
Runner: Allowed to run (voluntary exercise)
Enriched: Large bi-level cages, tubes, social interactions
Control: No altered condition
• Runners showed improvement in hippocampus!
• Double the amount of newborn cells (neurogenesis)
• Higher amount of cell survival (cellular retention)
Figure 1 BrdU-positive cell number one day after last injection (a) BrdU-positive cell number 4 weeks
after the last injection (b) (van Praag et al., 1999a)
This could mean better memory and learning ability!
• Smith et al. (2014)
•
•
•
•
Age range: 65 to 89 years
N = 97
MRI @ Baseline
18-month follow-up
Conditions
• High risk/Low PA
• High risk/High PA
• Low risk/Low PA
• Low risk/High PA
Hippocampal volume decreased by 3% in High risk/Low PA group!
More cells = better cognition
• Follow-up by Colcombe et al. (2006)
• 59 older adults
• Ages 60-79
• Random assignment to either:
• Aerobic exercise program
• Non-aerobic stretching and toning program
• Three sessions for 1 hour per week
• 6 month period
• Aerobic exercise had increases in brain volume
•
• Impulse control
• General intelligence
•
• Effective long-term memory
• Anterior
tracts
• Communication between brain hemispheres
These regions play key roles in successful everyday functioning!
Larger brain volume = more cells = better cognition
• Geda et al. (2010)
• 1,126 participants without mild cognitive decline
• 198 participants with mild cognitive decline
• Age range
• 70-89
• Moderate exercise decreased risk of mild cognitive decline
• Bicycling, hiking, yoga, brisk walking, moderate use of
exercise machines
• The American College of Sports Medicine recommends
that adults perform moderate exercise at least 150
minutes per week
EXERGAMING
An emerging type of video-gaming that replaces traditional buttonpressing with body movements
Nintendo Wii U
Xbox Kinect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imecLkxRGiE
• Aging causes natural structural and mental decline
• Functional deficits
• This decline could possibly be delayed with exercise!
• Exercise has physical benefits that help us mentally
• Increases
• Increases
• Increases
volume
volume
volume
• We should take part in exercising!
• Aerobics works well
• Moderate is better: 150mins/wk
Adlard, P. A., Perreau, V. M., Pop, V., Cotman, C. W. (2005). Voluntary exercise decreases amyloid load in transgenic model of Alzheimer’s disease. The Journal of
Neuroscience, 25(7):4217-4221. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0496-05.2005
Best, J. R. (2013). Exergaming in youth: Effects on physical and cognitive health. Zeitschrift für Psychologie 221(2):72-78. DOI: 10.1027/2151-2604/a000137
Colcombe, S. J., Erickson, K. I., Ratz, N., Kim, J. S., Webb, A. G., Cohen, N. J., … Kramer, A. F. (2008) Aerobic fitness reduces brain tissue loss in aging humans. Journal
of Gerontology, 61A(11):1166-1170. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/61.11.1166
Colcombe, S. J., Erickson, K. I., Scalf, P. E., Kim, J. S., Prakash, R., McAuley, E., … Kramer, A. F. (2006) Aerobic Exercise Training Increases Brain Volume in Aging
Humans. Journal of Gerontology, 58A(2):176-180. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/58.2.M176
Erickson, K. I., Voss, M. W., Prakash, R. S., Basak, C., Szabo, A., … Kramer, A. F. (2011). Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(7):3017-3022. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015950108
Geda, Y.E., Knopman. D. S., Roberts R.O., Christianson, T.J., Pankratz, V.S., Ivnik, R.J., … Rocca, W.A. (2010). Physical Exercise, Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment:
A Population-Based Study. Jama Neurology, 67 (1). DOI: 10.1001/archneurol.2009.297
Gould, E., Beylin, A., Tanapat, P., Reeves, A., Shors, T. J. (1999). Learning enhances adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal formation. Nature Neuroscience,
2(3):260-265. DOI: 10.1038/6365
Hillman, C. H., Erickson, K. I., Kramer, A. F. (2008). Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition. Nature Publishing Group, 9:58-65.
Retrieved from http://www2.pitt.edu/~bachlab/LabSite/Publications.html/hillman2008.pdf
Ide, K. and Secher, N. H., (2000). Cerebral blood flow and metabolism during exercise. Progress in Neurobiology, 61(4):397-414. DOI: 10.1016/S03010082(99)00057-X
Smith, J. C., Nielson, K. A., Woodard, J. L., Seidengberg, M., Durgerian, S., … Rao, S. M. (2014). Physical activity reduces Hippocampal atrophy in elders at genetic risk
for Alzheimer’s disease. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6(61):1-7. DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00061
van Praag, H., Kempermann, G., Gage, F. H. (1999a). Running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus. Nature America,
2(3):266-270. DOI: 10.1038/6368
van Praag, H., Christie, B. R., Sejnowski, T. J., & Gage, F. H. (1999b). Running enhances neurogenesis, learning, and long-term potentiation in mice. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/49182
van Praag, H., Shubert, T., Zhao, C., Gage, F. H. (2005). Exercise enhances learning and hippocampal neurogenesis in aged mice. The Journal of Neuroscience,
25(38):8680-8685. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1731-05.200