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Brain cell regrowth linked to benefits of exercise, sexual behaviors and reproductive issues
Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair ^ | March 10, 2011 | Unknown

Posted on 03/10/2011 8:05:36 AM PST by decimon

Tampa, Fla. (Mar. 10, 2011) – Two studies published by an interdisciplinary team of Hong Kong researchers in the current special issue of Cell Transplantation (20:1), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/ , link the regrowth of key adult brain cells (neurogenesis) in two critical areas of the brain to both the benefits of exercise as a stress reducer and also to sexual behavior and reproductive issues. The two studies reviewing the causes and impacts of neurogenesis came out of a recent Pan Pacific Symposium on Stem Cell Research held in Taichung, Taiwan.

Until the 1960s, the idea that the adult brain could experience neural cell re-growth was not accepted; research over the next 30 years confirmed that adult brain cells could, and did, in fact, regenerate. Recent research has focused on the role of neurogenesis. Subsequent important findings promise to change not only therapeutic interventions, but our understanding of aging, sexual potency and psychiatric diseases as well.

"The discovery of neural stem cells in the adult brain was a spectacular event that revolutionized the traditional view that the central nervous system did not generate new neurons in adulthood," said corresponding author Dr. Kwok-Fai So of the University of Hong Kong in the People's Republic of China. "Our research is focused on questions about the function and physiological significance of neurogenesis and what factors promote or suppress neurogenesis."

Physical exercise may counteract stress by promoting neurogenesis

"The beneficial effects of running correlated with increased adult neurogenesis, which may provide a hint that newborn neurons could be involved in counteracting stress-related disorders," said Dr. So. "Research has shown that exercise can improve mood and cognition and has also demonstrated that a deficit in adult neurogenesis may result in depressive disorders. Our research is aimed at examining the relationship between exercise as a way of combating stress and the possibility that exercise may promote neurogenesis and that neurogenesis functions as the mechanism of benefit."

According to the researchers, one important adult brain area that is a 'neurogenic zone' is the hippocampus, an area involved in memory and emotional regulation. The role of new neurons in hippocampal functions "remains poorly defined," however, but they add that the effect of stress on the hippocampus is well known. Stress, especially depression and post-traumatic brain injury, have been shown to shrink the hippocampus. Recent research has shown that exercise has a link to enhancing hippocampal 'plasticity' and the regrowth of neurons – neurogenesis.

"Recent findings suggest that hippocampal neurogenesis plays a role in the beneficial effects of exercise in countering stress," they concluded.

Citation: Yau, S-K.; Lau, B. W-M.; So, K-F. Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis: A Possible Way How Physical Exercise Counteracts Stress. Cell Transplantation 20(1):99-111; 2011.

Adult neurogenesis, reproduction and sexual behavior According to the researchers, recent studies suggest adult neurogenesis in the brain's subventricular zone (SVZ), which lines the ventricles (cavities) of the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid, plays a role in reproductive function and possibly in maternal behaviors, although the function of "SVZ neurogenesis is obscure." They suggest that emerging evidence points to reproductive action and sexual cues, such as pheromones (known to play an important role in reproductive function), may play a role in regulating neurogenesis in the olfactory system, where the sense of smell is located, and in the SVZ. The precise contribution of newborn neurons to sexual behavior is still "under debate," the researchers point out. They cite animal studies showing that neurogenesis plays a role in female mate selection and that suppressed neurogenesis has been associated with decreased sexual performance.

"The potential importance of neurogenesis in sexual behavior, sexual cues and reproductive function has provided new insights," said Dr. So. "These insights might provide a better understanding of sexual dysfunction, sexual disorders and normal sexual functioning."

"These reviews show that the process of neurogenesis has far-reaching implications, including a beneficial exercise-induced response to stress and some degree of involvement with sexual behavior and reproduction," said Prof. Shinn-Zong Lin, professor of neurosurgery at China University Medical Hospital, Taiwan and chair of the Pan Pacific Symposium on Stem Cell Research where this work was first presented. "The studies reinforce the importance of a naturally occurring process that, until recently, was believed to be impossible."

Citation: Lau, B. W-M.; Yau, S-Y.; So, K-F. Reproduction: A New Venue for Studying Function of Adult Neurogenesis? Cell Transplantation 20(1):21-35; 2011.

###

Contact: Dr. Kwok-Fai So, Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, PR China. Tel. (852) 2819-9216 Fax. (852) 2817-0857 Email hrmaskf@hkucc.hku.hk

The editorial offices for CELL TRANSPLANTATION are at the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, College of Medicine, the University of South Florida and the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Contact, David Eve, PhD. at celltransplantation@gmail.com or Camillo Ricordi, MD at ricordi@miami.edu

News release by Randolph Fillmore, Florida Science Communications, www.sciencescribe.net


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 03/10/2011 8:05:37 AM PST by decimon
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To: neverdem; DvdMom; grey_whiskers; Ladysmith; Roos_Girl; Silentgypsy; conservative cat; ...

New you ping.


2 posted on 03/10/2011 8:06:47 AM PST by decimon
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To: neverdem; DvdMom; grey_whiskers; Ladysmith; Roos_Girl; Silentgypsy; conservative cat; ...

New you ping.


3 posted on 03/10/2011 8:07:04 AM PST by decimon
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To: decimon

“my son the psych major” ping


4 posted on 03/10/2011 8:14:06 AM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
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To: decimon; All
So if you combined that research with...A few studies have found that adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus may lead to the formation of temporal clusters of long-term episodic memories (Aimone, Wiles, & Gage, 2006). New neurons in the hippocampus establish associative long-term potentiation more easily than older neurons (Schmidt-Hieber, Jonas, & Bischofberger, 2004). This indicates that neurons forming from adult neurogenesis are capable of memory storage. These findings point to the importance neurogenesis has in the ongoing search for ways to combat Alzheimer's disease.
Can we then extrapolate that having plenty of sex can prevent or even cure Alzheimer's?
5 posted on 03/10/2011 8:36:17 AM PST by John.Galt2012 (I'll take Liberty and you can keep the "Change"!)
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To: decimon
I definitely require regeneration of brain cells. That getting the wife's to put out thing is also a plus.

Alas. .. She will not fall for it, and I shall remain an unlaid retard with a daily diminishing mental capacity that should put me in league with a retarded gerbil by Christmas.

6 posted on 03/10/2011 8:38:34 AM PST by mmercier
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To: decimon
This is a a damned good article, I am going back for a fourth reread.

It makes sense if one connects the dots.

We are descended from those who outran the tiger with a hunk of meat from its kill; then brought it back to the wife... She was happy, then baby made three.

7 posted on 03/10/2011 8:55:43 AM PST by mmercier
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To: mmercier

As a woman I would tell your wife that she had better get her act together. Holding out on one’s husband is not a good idea.


8 posted on 03/10/2011 9:05:32 AM PST by ottbmare (off-the-track Thoroughbred mare)
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To: ottbmare

Can I get a note?


9 posted on 03/10/2011 9:24:40 AM PST by dangerdoc (see post #6)
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To: decimon

Also known as ``The Hugh Hefner Syndrome``


10 posted on 03/10/2011 9:30:53 AM PST by bunkerhill7
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To: call meVeronica

Bump 4 l8r


11 posted on 03/10/2011 10:34:45 AM PST by call meVeronica
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To: Big Giant Head

Ping of interest. :)


12 posted on 03/10/2011 11:21:49 AM PST by Marie Antoinette (Proud Clinton-hater since 1998.)
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To: decimon

B4L8r


13 posted on 03/10/2011 11:28:24 AM PST by AFreeBird
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To: decimon

“Damn it Jim, I’m a Doctor, not a sex therapist!” - Star Trek, episode 12


14 posted on 03/10/2011 12:04:21 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: ottbmare

Holding out on ones husband is acceptable if ones husband is a nitwit.


15 posted on 03/10/2011 12:46:09 PM PST by mmercier
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To: mmercier

I understand this fully. Also if he is obese, smelly, foul-tempered, unfaithful, lazy, etc. But nitwit or not, disgusting or not, if you hold out on a husband you are not going to have a husband for long. We all make choices.


16 posted on 03/10/2011 10:17:12 PM PST by ottbmare (off-the-track Thoroughbred mare)
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