Short Bouts of High-Intensity Exercise May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
Short sessions of high-intensity exercise may be just the thing to keep the brain healthy. The scientists behind a recent study in New Zealand found that about six minutes of intensive physical activity performed on a regular basis may provide protection from age-related cognitive decline.Vigorous activity may not only delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, it could also help prevent other neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease, according to the researchers.In the study, published this month in The Journal of Physiology, even just six minutes of strenuous cycling were shown to increase a protein that’s essential for brain formation, learning, and memory. The protein, called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), plays an important role in the growth of synapses between nerve cells, according to a past review (PDF). BDNF also…