Shaping the adult brain with exercise during development: Emerging evidence and knowledge gaps.

Shaping the adult brain with exercise during development: Emerging evidence and knowledge gaps. Int J Dev Neurosci. 2019 Jun 20;: Authors: Perez EC, Bravo DR, Rodgers SP, Khan AR, Leasure JL Abstract Exercise is known to produce a myriad of positive effects on the brain, including increased glia, neurons, blood vessels, white matter and dendritic complexity. Such effects are associated with enhanced cognition and stress resilience in humans and animal models. As such, exercise represents a positive experience with tremendous potential to influence brain development and shape an adult brain capable of responding to life's challenges. Although substantial evidence attests to the benefits of exercise for cognition in children and adolescents, the vast majority of existing studies examine acute effects. Nonetheless, there is emerging evidence indicating that exercise during development has positive cognitive and neural effects that last to adulthood. There is, therefore, a compelling need for studies designed to determine the extent to which plasticity driven by developmental exercise translates into enhanced brain health and function in adulthood and the underlying mechanisms. Such studies are particularly important given that modern Western society is increasingly characterized by sedentary behavior, and we know little about how this impacts the brain's developmental trajectory. This review synthesizes current literature and outlines s...
Source: International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Int J Dev Neurosci Source Type: research