According to a new study, running reverses the aging process of the brain, keeping it healthy for longer.
Scientists have found that running not only helps to keep the body healthy but also makes the brain more active and keeps in healthy by reversing its aging process. A new University of Queensland study suggests that this form of exercise is just as important as any other cognitive exercise to keep the brain healthy.
It has been found through the course of this new study that running is a mechanism by which the number of stem cells in the brain increases. This increases the number of nerve cells in the brain that reverse the ageing process of the brain.
"We have found that Growth Hormone (GH) originally discovered as a potent stimulator of animal growth is increased in the brain of running animals and this stimulates the activation of new neural stem cells," said QBI scientist Dr. Daniel Blackmore, according to Medical Xpress.
The researchers conducted this experiment on mice, which are known to have the same cognitive decline as humans.
"In this model of aging we found that the number of active neural stem cells dramatically declines with age, but exercise dramatically reversed this, increasing stem cell numbers," professor Perry Bartlett, the Director of QBI, and team leader, said in a report in Medical Xpress. "If we blocked the action of GH in the brains of these running animals, however, no such increase occurred, indicating GH was the primary regulator of this process.
"We are currently determining whether this grow GH-dependent increase in stem cell activity is able to reverse the cognitive decline seen in old animals by increasing production of new nerve cells."