Exercise-Induced Increases in Brain Size

Julia Basso – PhD Carbon dating in the human brain:  Implications for exercise-induced increases in brain size        Do you ever wonder why scientists use animal models?  Are you skeptical of findings in rodents and find it difficult to understand the importance of these discoveries for humans?  If so, that is a totally

woman running

The Process Of Movement Between The Brain And Body

Julia C. Basso, PhD Did you ever wonder how we move?  The ability to move is an interconnected process between the body and brain.  As I have discussed before, the motivation to move is regulated by the reward circuitry of our brain.  But what actually happens when the brain gets the signal, “ok, let’s get

Exercise: A Magic Pill To Help Protect The Brain From Cellular Pathology

Julia Basso – PhD The opening statement in a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reads, “Pathology is not destiny” (Kuehn, 2015).  This statement is based off of a huge prospective study that followed 2,566 healthy, older adults (ages 65 years and up) for around 16 years.  During the study participants were

Drink and Exercise

Drink, Be Merry…and Exercise!

Julia Basso – PhD Most of us engage in a drink or two (or three…) every now and then, and ‘tis the season for a cup of holiday cheer. Unfortunately, the holiday season is “one of the most dangerous times of year for alcohol-related accidents and death,” says Dr. Drew Edwards of psychcentral.com. 16.6% of

Animal, Human, and Clinical Studies About Exercise

Julia Basso, PhD I recently returned from the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting located in San Diego, California.  The Society for Neuroscience boasts that this conference is, “the world’s largest meeting focused on scientific discovery related to the brain and nervous system.”  More than 30,300 researchers, clinicians, and advocates gathered at this meeting to discuss

Exercise Increases Neurons in the Brain

Julia Basso – PhD Adult neurogenesis (i.e., the birth of new neurons in the adult brain) is a big thing in neuroscience.  For a long time, neuroscientists thought that new neurons emerged only during stages of early development.  In the 1960s, the discovery that new neurons continue to be born in the adult brain was