Study Shows Why Exercise Boosts Brainpower
(Washington, Reuters Health, 3/12/07)

Dr. Scott Small of Columbia University Medical Center, NY, and Fred Gage of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, and their colleagues, set out to determine the effect of exercise on the brain. Gage first studied mice and learned that exercising grows new brain cells in the dentate gyrus, a part of the hippocampus related to memory. When Small’s team used MRI’s to map cerebral blood volume in humans before and after exercise, they found similar results, suggesting that humans can also build new brain cells in the dentate gyrus through exercise. The investigators also report that as people become more fit, their blood flow to this area increases. The scientists say that the next challenge is to identify specific exercises that are most beneficial to cognition and memory.

(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)