Effects of Physical Activity on Hippocampal Neurogenesis

描述(申请人提供)：整个成年期，大脑在海马体中不断产生新的神经元。神经发生的过程受到学习、压力、空间复杂性和体力活动等环境因素的影响。这项拟议的研究将探索车轮运行活动对神经发生的控制，并调查这一现象的时间和生理参数。此外，还将使用强制跑步机和自愿转轮活动来检查锻炼的意志方面。胸腺嘧啶核苷类似物5-溴脱氧尿苷(BrdU)通常用于海马区细胞增殖和存活的研究。然而，在研究提升循环系统的环境因素时，可获得性的问题导致难以解释结果。为此，内源性标记物Ki-67和磷酸组蛋白H3的免疫标记将被应用，以提供一种不受全身升高影响的运动诱导神经发生的衡量标准。在老年人中，体力活动与较低的痴呆症发病率相关，运动诱导的神经发生研究的数据有朝一日可能会应用于神经退行性疾病的预防或治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The brain continues to generate new neurons in the hippocampus throughout adulthood. The process of neurogenesis is influenced by environmental factors such as learning, stress, spatial complexity, and physical activity. The proposed research will explore the control of neurogenesis by wheel running activity, and investigate the temporal and physiological parameters of this phenomenon. In addition, the volitional aspect of exercise will be examined using forced treadmill and voluntary running wheel activity. The thymidine analog 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) is typically used in studies of cell proliferation and survival in the hippocampus. However, when studying environmental factors that elevate the circulatory system, the issue of availability causes difficulty in interpretation of results. To this end, immunolabeling for the endogenous markers Ki-67 and phospho-histone H3 will be applied to provide a measure of exercise-induced neurogenesis that is not affected by systemic elevation. Physical activity has been correlated with a lower incidence of dementia in older adults, and the data from studies of exercise-induced neurogenesis may one day be applied to the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative disease.