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Exercise Gets Blood to Your Brain, Study Shows
ISLAMABAD: Exercise fanatics may be right -- getting out and moving
increases blood flow in the brain, U.S. researchers said on Saturday.
Tests on monkeys show that exercise helps foster blood vessel
development in the brain, making the animals more alert than
non-exercisers.
"What we found was a higher brain capillary volume in those monkeys who
exercised than in those monkeys who did not," Judy Cameron of the
divisions of Reproductive Sciences and Neuroscience at Oregon Health
& Science University said in a statement.
"Specifically, changes were most noted in older animals that were less fit at the start of the study," she added in a statement.
"The next step of this research is to determine whether other areas of
the brain undergo physical changes. For instance, how are brain cells
affected and does that impact cognitive performance." Cameron, who
presented her findings to a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in
New Orleans, said the findings should help explain why exercise also
seems to make people more alert.
"While we already know that exercise is good for the heart and reduces
the incidence of obesity, this study shows exercise can literally cause
physical changes in the brain," she said.
"Furthermore, we believe the study results show exercise causes a
person to be more engaged and provides another reason for Americans to
make physical activity part of their daily regimen. This is especially
true in the case of older Americans with whom decline in mental
function over time is a common occurrence."
For their study they separated 24 monkeys into three groups.
One group exercised on treadmills for a set distance five days a week.
A second group did not exercise, and a third group exercised for 20
weeks and then remained sedentary.
They measured the volume of small blood vessels, called capillaries, in
the motor cortex region of the brain in all three groups of monkeys.
They also ran several tests on the monkeys' mental abilities.
In one, a treat is placed under two toys. After a brief delay, the monkey was allowed to find the treat.
Exercisers were "more aroused, alert and engaged," Cameron said, although they did not find the treats any faster.
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