Are you want to Boosts a Crucial Molecule in Your Brain?
Six Minutes of Intense Exercise Boosts a Crucial Molecule in Your Brain Six minutes of high-intensity exercise is enough to produce a key protein in the brain, one that's important in brain formation, function, and memory, and which has been implicated in the progress of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. The specialized protein in question is called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and it promotes both the growth and survival of neuron cells in the brain, as well as facilitating the development of new links and signaling pathways. "BDNF has shown great promise in animal models, but pharmaceutical interventions have thus far failed to safely harness the protective power of BDNF in humans," says environmental physiologist Travis Gibbons, from the University of Otago in New Zealand. "We saw the need to explore non-pharmacological approaches that can preserve the brain's capacit...