A study by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team finds that neurogenesis -inducing the production of new neurons – in the brain structure in which memories are encoded can improve cognitive function in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Research team identifies way to mimic exercise’s beneficial effects through pharmacologic and gene therapy.
“The lesson learned was that it is not enough just to turn on the birth of new nerve cells, you must simultaneously ‘clean up’ the neighborhood in which they are being born to make sure the new cells survive and thrive.
Exercise can achieve that, but we found ways of mimicking those beneficial cognitive effects by the application of drugs and gene therapy that simultaneously turn on neurogenesis and BDNF production.”
~ Rudolph Tanzi
