Exercise may enhance plasticity of the adult brain — the ability of our neurons to change with experience — which is essential for learning, memory, and brain repair, Italian researchers report in an open-access paper in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.
Their research, which focused on the the visual cortex, may offer hope for people with traumatic brain injury or eye conditions such as amblyopia, the researchers suggest. “We provide the first demonstration that moderate levels of physical activity enhance neuroplasticity in the visual cortex of adult humans,” says Claudia Lunghi of the University of Pisa in Italy.
Image: This is an artistic representation of the take home messages in Lunghi and Sale: “A cycling lane for brain rewiring,” which is that physical activity (such as cycling) is associated with increased brain plasticity. (credit: Dafne Lunghi Art)
