Abstract
Physical activity, likely through induction of neuroplasticity, is a promising intervention to promote brain health. In athletes it is clear that training can and does, by physiological adaptations, extend the frontiers of performance capacity. The limits of our endurance capacity lie deeply in the human brain, determined by various personal factors yet to be explored. The human brain, with its vast neural connections and its potential for seemingly endless behaviors, constitutes one of the final frontiers of medicine. In a recent study published in BMC Medicine, the TransEurope FootRace Project followed 10 ultra-endurance runners over around 4,500 km across Europe and recorded a large data collection of brain imaging scans. This study indicates that the cerebral atrophy amounting to a reduction of approximately 6% throughout the two months of the race is reversed upon follow-up. While this study will contribute to advances in the limits of human performance on the neurophysiological processes in sports scientists, it will also bring important understanding to clinicians about cerebral atrophy in people who are vulnerable to physical and psychological stress long term.See related research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/170
Highlights
A plethora of evidence exists to show that there are no major doubts behind the physical benefits of exercising
Do endurance exercise responses when experienced multiple times over weeks impact the brain in such a way as to become neuroprotective? Second, how do the brain’s resources contribute to optimizing running performance? Physiological data on human brain activity during chronic exercise responses are still sparse
Freund et al [3] have successfully explored some biometrical data and the cerebral structural changes occurring in 10 runners in response to chronic endurance running exposure, with the help of three identical magnetic resonance (MR) scanners
Summary
A plethora of evidence exists to show that there are no major doubts behind the physical benefits of exercising. Another source of short-term exercise benefit has to do with increased neurogenesis in the brain and improved mental performance [1]. Physiological data on human brain activity during chronic exercise responses are still sparse.
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