Scientists have recognized sports as the secret of eternal youth

Sport improves cognitive performance.

Scientists have found that the brain of people leading an active lifestyle produces more proteins that strengthen the connection between neurons. Thus, slowing down aging and not only, Chronicle.info reports with reference to Channel 24.

Surprisingly, the effect persists even with severe dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, slowing down their progression.

There are different mechanisms to explain the anti-aging benefits of sport, but new ones have emerged. So, scientists from the California Institute in San Francisco showed for the first time that the regulation of synaptic proteins is associated with physical activity. It & nbsp; improves cognitive performance.

To reach this conclusion, they analyzed more than 400 images of the brains of deceased elderly people. They already knew about the level of their physical activity in recent years and studied its effect on the state of the brain.

Unexpected results

It turned out that the brains of people who played sports in the last years of their life contained more proteins that strengthened synaptic connections — they ensured the transfer of information between neurons. Attention! & Nbsp; An increased amount of these proteins is associated with more effective cognitive function at the end of a person's life.

Features of this mechanism

First, its protective effect was found even in people whose brains were riddled with toxic protein plaques (they are associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases).

Scientists believe that synaptic integrity likely weakened the bond between amyloid beta and tau protein, slowing the progression of the disease.

Second, the protective effect spread not only on the hippocampus, the center of memory, but also on other areas of the brain.

It is possible that physical activity has a global supportive effect, maintaining and stimulating the healthy function of proteins that facilitate synaptic connections throughout the brain.
— said co-author of the work William Honer.

An important conclusion: the results obtained once again confirm that an active lifestyle at any age, especially for older people with an increased risk neurodegeneration is more beneficial than previously thought.