Member-only story
Andy’s Quick Hits (146): How Exercise Changes Your Brain Chemistry in Ageing
So another one on exercise and the brain?!
Yes, those who follow me know this crops up a lot. But each piece of research adds something new to the evidence and this one is particularly powerful.
And what did the researchers find?
Well, the study showed that exercise in later life correlated to a wider spread of presynaptic proteins.
What on earth is a presynaptic protein?
The connections between you brain cells, neurons, are called synapses. These synapses, however, are constantly change growing and shrinking, connecting and reconnecting (or degenerating). To do this they need proteins. If your brain is high in presynaptic proteins this means your synapses have the proteins to build, rebuild, and maintain your connections. A very good thing indeed!
Ahhh so exercise increases the ability of your brain to keep plastic into old age!
Precisely and importantly this is strongly correlated to the exercise you do, particularly in older age.
So keep exercising but particularly in older age!
Yes, and other studies also just out have said exactly the same thing. For example, this study just released showed that as little as four hours of moderate…
