Brain plasticity induced by physical exercise

• Grant number: 09/06953-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2009
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Mario Arida
• Grantee: Ricardo Mario Arida
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Principal investigators: Fulvio Alexandre Scorza
• Associated researchers: Antônio Carlos da Silva ; Antônio Carlos Guimarães de Almeida ; Debora Amado Scerni ; Ésper Abrão Cavalheiro ; Maria da Graca Naffah Mazzacoratti ; Maria José da Silva Fernandes ; Oswaldo Keith Okamoto ; Roberta Monterazzo Cysneiros ; Vera Cristina Terra
• Associated scholarship(s): 10/11353-3 - Exercise and prenatal brain development: a study in rat pups born from trained mothers during pregnancy, BP.PD

Abstract

Human and animal studies have demonstrate that exercise targets many aspects of brain function and has broad effects on overall brain health. Exercise activates molecular and cellular cascades that support and maintain brain plasticity. It induces expression of genes associated with plasticity, and in addition promotes neurogenesis and increased brain vascularization and metabolism. Such exercise-induced structural and functional change has been documented in various brain regions but has been best-studied in the hippocampus, the focus of this project. A key mechanism mediating these broad benefits of exercise on the brain is induction of central and peripheral trophic factors. BDNF availability has been crucial for these mechanisms and is significantly increased by exercise. Exercise-driven increases in the level of hippocampal BDNF are controlled by neuronal activity, neurotransmitters and interactions with peripheral factors that include estrogen and nutrition. Mechanisms that interfere with growth factor signaling, specifically inflammation, are modulated by exercise in the periphery and in the central nervous system. In this project we will firstly examine the influence of exercise on hippocampal mossy fiber synaptogenesis and the effect of acute and chronic exerccise in the opioid and canabinoid systems. Next, we will analyze the effect of circadian rhythm on brain plasticity induced by exercise. Finally, we will verify the effects of different exercise intensities on brain development and brain inflammation as well as nutrition and exercise connection on brain plasticity.Human and animal studies have demonstrate that exercise targets many aspects of brain function and has broad effects on overall brain health. Exercise activates molecular and cellular cascades that support and maintain brain plasticity. It induces expression of genes associated with plasticity, and in addition promotes neurogenesis and increased brain vascularization and metabolism. Such exercise-induced structural and functional change has been documented in various brain regions but has been best-studied in the hippocampus, the focus of this project. A key mechanism mediating these broad benefits of exercise on the brain is induction of central and peripheral trophic factors. BDNF availability has been crucial for these mechanisms and is significantly increased by exercise. Exercise-driven increases in the level of hippocampal BDNF are controlled by neuronal activity, neurotransmitters and interactions with peripheral factors that include estrogen and nutrition. Mechanisms that interfere with growth factor signaling, specifically inflammation, are modulated by exercise in the periphery and in the central nervous system. In this project we will firstly examine the influence of exercise on hippocampal mossy fiber synaptogenesis and the effect of acute and chronic exercise in the opioid and canabinoid systems. Next, we will analyze the effect of circadian rhythm on brain plasticity induced by exercise. Finally, we will verify the effects of different exercise intensities on brain development and brain inflammation as well as nutrition and exercise connection on brain plasticity. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TAVARES, J. G. P.; VASQUES, E. R.; ARIDA, R. M.; CAVALHEIRO, E. A.; CABRAL, F. R.; TORRES, L. B.; MENEZES-RODRIGUES, F. S.; JURKIEWICZ, A.; CARICATI-NETO, A.; GODOY, C. M. G.; et al. Epilepsy-induced electrocardiographic alterations following cardiac ischemia and reperfusion in rats. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, v. 48, n. 2, p. 140-145, FEB 2015. (09/06953-4)

DA SILVA, SERGIO GOMES; DE ALMEIDA, ALEXANDRE APARECIDO; FERNANDES, JANSEN; LOPIM, GLAUBER MENEZES; CABRAL, FRANCISCO ROMERO; SCERNI, DEBORA AMADO; DE OLIVEIRA-PINTO, ANA VIRGINIA; LENT, ROBERTO; ARIDA, RICARDO MARIO. Maternal Exercise during Pregnancy Increases BDNF Levels and Cell Numbers in the Hippocampal Formation but Not in the Cerebral Cortex of Adult Rat Offspring. PLoS One, v. 11, n. 1, JAN 15 2016. (10/11353-3, 09/06953-4)

SERRA, FERNANDO TADEU; SILVA ARAUJO, BRUNO HENRIQUE; DIAZ PLACENCIA, EDUARDO VAREJAO; HENRIQUE, JESSICA SALLES; DONA, FLAVIA; TORRES, LAILA BRITO; DA SILVA FERNANDES, MARIA JOSE; ARIDA, RICARDO MARIO; DA SILVA, SWRGIO GOMES. Enriched environment and exercise effects on parvalbumin expression and distribution in the hippocampal formation of developing rats. Brain Research Bulletin, v. 160, p. 85-90, JUL 2020. (09/06953-4, 14/00035-1)

DA SILVA, SERGIO GOMES; ARIDA, RICARDO MARIO. Physical activity and brain development. EXPERT REVIEW OF NEUROTHERAPEUTICS, v. 15, n. 9, p. 1041-1051, 2015. (14/00035-1, 09/06953-4)