Exercise May Help Boost Synaptic Functioning

While the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition have been shown in mice, it has been much harder to demonstrate in people, until now. A new study from UC San Francisco has shown that when elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhance the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition.

“Our work is the first that uses human data to show that synaptic protein regulation is related to physical activity and may drive the beneficial cognitive outcomes we see,” said Kaitlin Casaletto, lead author on the paper that was published today in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

“Maintaining the integrity of these connections between neurons may be vital to fending off dementia, since the synapse is really the site where cognition happens,” Casaletto added. “Physical activity—a readily available tool—may help boost this synaptic functioning.”

The team found that elderly people who remained active had higher levels of proteins that facilitate the exchange of information between neurons. This result dovetailed with earlier finding that people who had more of these proteins in their brains when they died were better able to maintain their cognition late in life. 

To their surprise, the team found that the effects ranged beyond the hippocampus to encompass other brain regions associated with cognitive function. “It may be that physical activity exerts a global sustaining effect, supporting and stimulating healthy function of proteins that facilitate synaptic transmission throughout the brain,” senior author William Honer explained.