Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain

A growing body of evidence clearly indicates the beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) on cognition. The importance of PA is now being reevaluated due to the increase in sedentary behavior in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many studies in humans have revealed that PA help...

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Autores principales:	Hiroyuki Umegaki, Takashi Sakurai, Hidenori Arai
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	Alzheimer’s disease brain-derived neurotrophic factor exercise dementia neurodegeneration physical activity Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1af480658f4840ca8a3221d44280d4c5
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1af480658f4840ca8a3221d44280d4c52021-12-01T19:22:12ZActive Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain1663-436510.3389/fnagi.2021.761674https://doaj.org/article/1af480658f4840ca8a3221d44280d4c52021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2021.761674/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1663-4365A growing body of evidence clearly indicates the beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) on cognition. The importance of PA is now being reevaluated due to the increase in sedentary behavior in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many studies in humans have revealed that PA helps to preserve brain health, the underlying mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. In this review, which mainly focuses on studies in humans, we comprehensively summarize the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of PA or exercise on brain health, particularly cognition. The most intensively studied mechanisms of the beneficial effects of PA involve an increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and preservation of brain volume, especially that of the hippocampus. Nonetheless, the mutual associations between these two factors remain unclear. For example, although BDNF presumably affects brain volume by inhibiting neuronal death and/or increasing neurogenesis, human data on this issue are scarce. It also remains to be determined whether PA modulates amyloid and tau metabolism. However, recent advances in blood-based biomarkers are expected to help elucidate the beneficial effects of PA on the brain. Clinical data suggest that PA functionally modulates cognition independently of neurodegeneration, and the mechanisms involved include modulation of functional connectivity, neuronal compensation, neuronal resource allocation, and neuronal efficiency. However, these mechanisms are as yet not fully understood. A clear understanding of the mechanisms involved could help motivate inactive persons to change their behavior. More accumulation of evidence in this field is awaited.Hiroyuki UmegakiTakashi SakuraiHidenori AraiFrontiers Media S.A.articleAlzheimer’s diseasebrain-derived neurotrophic factorexercisedementianeurodegenerationphysical activityNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. NeuropsychiatryRC321-571ENFrontiers in Aging Neuroscience, Vol 13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Alzheimer’s disease brain-derived neurotrophic factor exercise dementia neurodegeneration physical activity Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
spellingShingle	Alzheimer’s disease brain-derived neurotrophic factor exercise dementia neurodegeneration physical activity Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571 Hiroyuki Umegaki Takashi Sakurai Hidenori Arai Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain
description	A growing body of evidence clearly indicates the beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) on cognition. The importance of PA is now being reevaluated due to the increase in sedentary behavior in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many studies in humans have revealed that PA helps to preserve brain health, the underlying mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. In this review, which mainly focuses on studies in humans, we comprehensively summarize the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of PA or exercise on brain health, particularly cognition. The most intensively studied mechanisms of the beneficial effects of PA involve an increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and preservation of brain volume, especially that of the hippocampus. Nonetheless, the mutual associations between these two factors remain unclear. For example, although BDNF presumably affects brain volume by inhibiting neuronal death and/or increasing neurogenesis, human data on this issue are scarce. It also remains to be determined whether PA modulates amyloid and tau metabolism. However, recent advances in blood-based biomarkers are expected to help elucidate the beneficial effects of PA on the brain. Clinical data suggest that PA functionally modulates cognition independently of neurodegeneration, and the mechanisms involved include modulation of functional connectivity, neuronal compensation, neuronal resource allocation, and neuronal efficiency. However, these mechanisms are as yet not fully understood. A clear understanding of the mechanisms involved could help motivate inactive persons to change their behavior. More accumulation of evidence in this field is awaited.
format	article
author	Hiroyuki Umegaki Takashi Sakurai Hidenori Arai
author_facet	Hiroyuki Umegaki Takashi Sakurai Hidenori Arai
author_sort	Hiroyuki Umegaki
title	Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain
title_short	Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain
title_full	Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain
title_fullStr	Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain
title_full_unstemmed	Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain
title_sort	active life for brain health: a narrative review of the mechanism underlying the protective effects of physical activity on the brain
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/1af480658f4840ca8a3221d44280d4c5
work_keys_str_mv	AT hiroyukiumegaki activelifeforbrainhealthanarrativereviewofthemechanismunderlyingtheprotectiveeffectsofphysicalactivityonthebrain AT takashisakurai activelifeforbrainhealthanarrativereviewofthemechanismunderlyingtheprotectiveeffectsofphysicalactivityonthebrain AT hidenoriarai activelifeforbrainhealthanarrativereviewofthemechanismunderlyingtheprotectiveeffectsofphysicalactivityonthebrain
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Active Life for Brain Health: A Narrative Review of the Mechanism Underlying the Protective Effects of Physical Activity on the Brain

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