Exercise stimulates neuron growth

   28 May 2004

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   A new study has found that exercise stimulates the growth of neurons,
   even the injured neurons.
   You can read about this study in the Proceedings of the National
   Academy of Sciences.
   Scientists say that this latest study will help them better understand
   how neurons make or sever connections based on usage synaptic
   plasticity.
   The scientists studied rats. They observed the growth of sensory
   neurons as they ran on running wheels for periods of three to seven
   days. They also studied a group of rats that did not exercise at all.
   The rats that had been running had neurons that had grown longer
   neurites (neuritis are a type of extension) than the inactive rats.
   The lengths of the neuritis were directly linked to the amount of
   exercise the rats did. The more they ran the longer their neurite
   length.