Can a pill provide the same cognitive benefits as exercise?

Описание: Exercise is one of the best studied and most powerful ways of protecting the brain from age-related cognitive decline, and has been shown to improve cognition in individuals at risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

But many older adults are not able to exercise regularly due to physical limitations or disabilities, and researchers have long searched for therapies that could confer some of the same neurological benefits in people with low physical activity levels.

The new study, published July 8, 2020 in Science, showed that after mice exercise, their livers secrete a protein called Gpld1 into the blood. Levels of this protein in the blood correspond to improved cognitive function in aged mice, and a collaboration with the UCSF Memory and Aging Center found that the enzyme is also elevated in the blood elderly humans who exercise regularly. The researchers showed that simply increasing the amount of Gpld1 produced by the mouse liver could confer many of the same brain benefits as regular exercise.