I am sure you have noticed, in others if not in yourself, that it gets harder to remember names, places, facts, and procedures as people get older.
Why is that? Clearly something changes, something physiological. Perhaps if we could identify what changes, we could slow or even reverse that change, enabling us to retain our mental powers far longer than is common today. Some groundbreaking research has been conducted recently at Stanford University in California. This work is described in a paper titled Exercise conditioned plasma dampens inflammation via clusterin and boosts memory.
The paper has been uploaded to the ResearchGate preprint server. This is late-breaking news that hasn’t “officially” broken yet. After peer review, it is certain to be published in a high-impact scientific journal.
What does the paper say? What does that title mean? Does it say anything about what people should do to retain their cognitive abilities? Let’s dive in.
The paper, by Tony Wyss-Coray, Tom Rando, and colleagues discusses experiments conducted on lab mice and on people.
Lab mice have a natural inclination to run if they are given the chance. The experiment on mice put them into a cage with a running wheel. Half the mice (the runners) were put into a cage with a functional running wheel. The other half were housed in a cage with a running wheel that was locked into position, making running impossible.
It wouldn’t surprise anybody to find that after 28 days, there were significant differences between the mice that were allowed to run and those that were not. The runners showed reduced brain inflammation, as well as an increase of complement cascade inhibitors, including clusterin. What was surprising, at least to me, was the fact that non-runners that had been injected with blood plasma taken from runners, showed these same effects. Something in the plasma, probably clusterin, was giving the non-exercised mice the same health benefit as that which accrued to the exercised mice. This research provides insight into how exercise improves the health of the brain.
This research is very thought provoking. However, I think I will just keep doing my own running every day, as I have for years, rather than taking a plasma transfusion from one of my favorite marathon runners.
BIO:
Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org