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0006-8993/$ – see front matter © 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2010.05.053

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Editorial

Foreword: Exercise and the Brain

There is a long history showing that exercise protects againstthe neurological damage seen in humans with Parkinson'sdisease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, trau-matic brain injury and a variety of other neurodegenerativediseases. (Devine and Zafonte, 2009; Dishman et al., 2006;Petzinger et al.; Rolland et al., 2008; Vaynman and Gomez-Pinilla, 2005; White and Castellano, 2008a; White and Castel-lano, 2008b). In this issue titled Exercise and the Brain, we havecompiled 10 papers (2 reviews and 8 research papers)examining various aspects on the effects of exercise on thedeveloping, injured and adult brain using both animal modelsand human studies. The issues examined range from studiesexamining amounts of exercise necessary to confer neuro-protection to papers examining the molecular mechanismsunderlying neuroprotection to papers examining the clinicalbenefits of exercise.

In terms of examining the effects of variable exercise, anumber of studies have suggested that neuroprotective effectsonly occur following completion of significant amounts ofvoluntary exercise. Gerecke et al. (2010) tested this hypothesisby examining different schedules of exercise and showed thatsignificant neuroprotection only occurred when 2/3 maximalexercise (both time and amount) was performed. Thissupports previous studies showing that more rigorous exer-cise is necessary to induce neuroprotection.

Several papers in this issue examine themechanism(s) thatunderlie these neuroprotective effects. Szabo et al. (2009)showed that voluntary exercise could lower the levels ofproteosome activation after fluid percussion injury as well asreduce activation of the immediate early transcription factorzif-268, suggesting that exercise can alter expression of themolecular substrates that control protein turnover followingbrain trauma. Chytrova et al. (2009) found that exercise canaffect maintenance of plasma membranes, whose stabilityand fluidity are fundamental for synaptic function andprocessing of higher order information.

In addition to the neuroprotective benefits of exercise, thisactivity has also been shown to alter plasticity in the brain.Two studies by Hwang et al. (2009, 2010) show that treadmillexercise could improve dendritic growth in SCZ-derivedcortical neuroblasts as well as increase COX-2 expression,both of which are reduced in chronic diabetic conditions.Marlatt et al. (2010) confirmed that exercise increased

neurogenesis in the brain and also showed that exercisecombined with some antidepressants increased the percent-age of these dividing cells that became neurons.

Two imaging studies examining the effects of exercise onbrain are also included in this issue. Prakash et al. (2009)investigated the association between exercise and measuresof gray matter atrophy and white matter integrity in multiplesclerosis using MRI voxel-based morphometry and diffusiontensor imaging and demonstrated that patients who hadhigher levels of fitness showed preserved gray matter volumeand integrity of white matter. In a second imaging study, Weiand Luo (2009) used functional magnetic resonance BOLDimaging to examine if repeated stereotyped exercise had thepotential to alter the functional activation of the brain. Theyshowed that expert athletes (in this case, divers) were able todifferently activate regions of the brain specific to theirkinesthetic task during visualization of the activity comparedto novice athletes who performed the same sport, and thatthis plasticity may underlie the ability of these expert athletesto excel in their chosen activity. To complement this study, wehave included two review papers that examine the effects ofexercise on cognitive and motor tasks. Lambourne andTomporowski (2010) used a meta-analysis to show thatexercise had different effects on cognition depending onseveral factors including the type of cognitive task selectedand the type of exercise performed. Russell et al. (2010)examined the effect of exercise training on voice andswallowing deficits seen in Parkinson's disease and concludedthat targeted training for voice and swallow is a promising butunder-studied intervention for cranial sensorimotor deficits.

Overall, the papers included in this issue demonstrate thewide range of positive effects that exercise has on plasticityand protection in the nervous system.

R E F E R E N C E S

Chytrova, G., Ying, Z., Gomez-Pinilla, F., 2009. Exercise contributesto the effects of DHA dietary supplementation by acting onmembrane-related synaptic systems. Brain Res.

Devine, J.M., Zafonte, R.D., 2009. Physical exercise and cognitiverecovery in acquired brain injury: a review of the literature.PMR 1, 560–575.

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Dishman, R.K., Berthoud, H.R., Booth, F.W., Cotman, C.W.,Edgerton, V.R., Fleshner, M.R., Gandevia, S.C., Gomez-Pinilla, F.,Greenwood, B.N., Hillman, C.H., Kramer, A.F., Levin, B.E.,Moran, T.H., Russo-Neustadt, A.A., Salamone, J.D., VanHoomissen, J.D., Wade, C.E., York, D.A., Zigmond, M.J., 2006.Neurobiology of exercise. Obesity (Silver Spring) 14, 345–356.

Gerecke, K.M., Jiao, Y., Pani, A., Pagala, V., Smeyne, R.J., 2010.Exercise protects against MPTP-induced neurotoxicity in mice.Brain Res.

Hwang, I.K., Yi, S.S., Song, W., Won, M.H., Yoon, Y.S., Seong, J.K.,2009. Effects of age and treadmill exercise in chronic diabeticstages on neuroblast differentiation in a rat model of type 2diabetes. Brain Res.

Hwang, I.K., Yi, S.S., Yoo, K.Y., Park, O.K., Yan, B., Kim, I.Y., Kim, Y.N., Song, W., Moon, S.M., Won, M.H., Seong, J.K., Yoon, Y.S.,2010. Effects of treadmill exercise on cyclooxygenase-2 in thehippocampus in type 2 diabetic rats: Correlation with theneuroblasts. Brain Res.

Lambourne, K., Tomporowski, P., 2010. The effect ofexercise-induced arousal on cognitive task performance: Ameta-regression analysis. Brain Res.

Marlatt, M.W., Lucassen, P.J., van Praag, H., 2010. Comparison ofneurogenic effects of fluoxetine, duloxetine and running inmice. Brain Res.

Petzinger, G.M., Fisher, B.E., Van Leeuwen, J.E., Vukovic, M.,Akopian, G., Meshul, C.K., Holschneider, D.P., Nacca, A., Walsh,J.P., Jakowec, M.W., Enhancing neuroplasticity in the basalganglia: the role of exercise in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord.25 Suppl 1, S141-5.

Prakash, R.S., Snook, E.M., Motl, R.W., Kramer, A.F., 2009. Aerobicfitness is associatedwith graymatter volume andwhitematterintegrity in multiple sclerosis. Brain Res.

Rolland, Y., Abellan van Kan, G., Vellas, B., 2008. Physical activityand Alzheimer's disease: from prevention to therapeuticperspectives. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 9, 390–405.

Russell, J.A., Ciucci, M.R., Connor, N.P., Schallert, T., 2010. Targetedexercise therapy for voice and swallow in persons withParkinson's disease. Brain Res.

Szabo, Z., Ying, Z., Radak, Z., Gomez-Pinilla, F., 2009. Voluntaryexercise may engage proteasome function to benefit the brainafter trauma. Brain Res.

Vaynman, S., Gomez-Pinilla, F., 2005. License to run: exerciseimpacts functional plasticity in the intact and injured centralnervous system by using neurotrophins. Neurorehabil NeuralRepair 19, 283–295.

Wei, G., Luo, J., 2009. Sport expert's motor imagery: functionalimaging of professional motor skills and simple motor skills.Brain Res.

White, L.J., Castellano, V., 2008a. Exercise and brainhealth–implications for multiple sclerosis: Part 1—neuronalgrowth factors. Sports Med. 38, 91–100.

White, L.J., Castellano, V., 2008b. Exercise and brain health–implications for multiple sclerosis: Part II—immune factorsand stress hormones. Sports Med. 38, 179–186.

Michael ZigmondUniversity of Pittsburgh, Department of Neurology,

3500 Terrace St. Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Richard J. SmeyneSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale

Memphis, TN 38105, USA