Exercise and new brain cells (original) (raw)

Running increases cell proliferation and
neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus
by
van Praag H, Kempermann G, Gage FH.
Laboratory of Genetics,
Salk Institute for Biological Studies,
La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Nat Neurosci 1999 Mar; 2(3):266-70

ABSTRACT

Exposure to an enriched environment increases neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of adult rodents. Environmental enrichment, however, typically consists of many components, such as expanded learning opportunities, increased social interaction, more physical activity and larger housing. We attempted to separate components by assigning adult mice to various conditions: water-maze learning (learner), swim-time-yoked control (swimmer), voluntary wheel running (runner), and enriched (enriched) and standard housing (control) groups. Neither maze training nor yoked swimming had any effect on bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cell number. However, running doubled the number of surviving newborn cells, in amounts similar to enrichment conditions. Our findings demonstrate that voluntary exercise is sufficient for enhanced neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus.

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