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A single session of aerobic exercise, such as a brisk run or bike ride, can raise blood levels of BDNF, a protein that helps nerve cells survive, grow and form new connections. The rise is temporary, and its size varies from person to person.

Neuroscience

MindHealth

The story behind the card

BDNF stands for brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Yves-Alain Barde and Hans Thoenen first isolated it from pig brain in 1982, and it is especially active in the hippocampus, a region central to learning and memory. In 1995 Carl Cotman's team at the University of California, Irvine found that rats given running wheels made more BDNF in the hippocampus. In people, a 2017 analysis of 55 studies found that blood BDNF was higher after a single session of exercise, with longer sessions giving bigger rises; the effect was clear in men but not in women. Blood levels are only an indirect guide to what happens inside the brain. The findings support a link between exercise and plasticity, the brain's ability to change, without proving that BDNF explains the clear-headed feeling after a walk.

Türkçe oku
Tek bir aerobik egzersiz, örneğin tempolu bir koşu ya da bisiklet turu, kandaki BDNF düzeyini yükseltebilir; BDNF, sinir hücrelerinin yaşamasına, büyümesine ve yeni bağlantılar kurmasına yardım eden bir proteindir. Bu artış geçicidir, büyüklüğü de kişiden kişiye değişir.

BDNF, İngilizce “brain-derived neurotrophic factor”, yani “beyin kaynaklı nörotrofik faktör” adının kısaltmasıdır. Yves-Alain Barde ile Hans Thoenen onu ilk kez 1982'de domuz beyninden ayrıştırdı. En çok, öğrenme ve bellekte merkezî rol oynayan hipokampus bölgesinde iş görür. 1995'te Carl Cotman'ın Kaliforniya Üniversitesi Irvine'daki ekibi, koşu çarkı verilen sıçanların hipokampusunda daha fazla BDNF üretildiğini buldu. İnsanlarda ise 55 çalışmayı bir araya getiren 2017 tarihli bir analize göre tek bir egzersizden sonra kandaki BDNF yükseliyor, egzersiz uzadıkça artış da büyüyordu. Etki erkeklerde açıktı, kadınlarda ise görülmedi. Kandaki düzey, beynin içinde olup bitene ancak dolaylı bir işaret verir. Bulgular egzersizle beynin değişebilme yeteneği arasında bir bağ olduğunu destekliyor; ama yürüyüşten sonra hissedilen zihin açıklığını BDNF'nin sağladığını kanıtlamıyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
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