Exercise can protect against brain damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system, informs the EurekAlert website.
Physical activity causes the brain to rapidly produce substances that prevent brain damage, said Jean Harry of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (USA). According to the results of his research, regular physical activity before the onset of the disease changes the chemical environment of the brain in such a way that the neurons are protected from severe damage. This will help us develop a treatment for early diagnosed patients where we can stop the brain damage, ‘said Harry.
The study used an experimental brain injury model in which mice are exposed to a toxic substance that destroys the hippocampus: the part of the brain responsible for memory and cognition. Internuclein 6, a substance that suppresses inflammation in the brain and reduces the damage that is usually caused by exercise, was produced in the brains of mice that performed exercise.
Previous studies have shown that physical activity after brain injury supports repair processes.
The research report will be published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. (PAP)