User:Pedro.torres26/Neurobiological effects of physical exercise

The neurobiological effects of physical exercises on brain structure, function, and cognition are innumerable. Various research has shown that that consistent exercise, can improve certain cognitive functions, healthy alterations in gene expression in the brain, and beneficial forms of neuroplasticity and behavioral plasticity. Exercise can also have some long-term effects, some of this are: increased neuron growth, increased neurobiological activity, improved stress coping, enhanced cognitive control of behavior, improve declarative, spatial, and working memory, and structural and functional improvements in brain structures and pathways associated with cognitive control and memory. The effects of exercise on cognition have important implications for improving academic performance in children and college students, improving adult productivity, preserving cognitive function in old age, preventing or treating certain neurological disorders, and improving the overall quality of life.

In healthy adults, exercise has been shown to causes a temporary effect on cognition, after a single exercise session and permanent effects on cognition after daily exercise over a period of several months. People who regularly exercise, have greater scores on neuropsychological function and performance tests that measure certain cognitive functions, such as attentional control, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory updating and capacity, declarative memory, spatial memory, and information processing speed. The temporary effects of exercise on cognition include improvements in most executive functions and information processing speed for a period of up to 2 hours after exercising.

Aerobic exercise produces short- and long-term effects on mood and emotional states by promoting positive affect, inhibiting negative affect, and decreasing the biological response to acute psychological stress. Over the short-term, aerobic exercise functions as both an antidepressant and euphoriant, whereas consistent exercise produces general improvements in mood and self-esteem.

Effects in children

Children who do aerobic exercises are shown to promote their Executive Function which is responsible for better cognition and behaviors. A meta-analysis performed by Sibley and Etnier (2003), studied the relationship between physical activity and cognitive performance in children. They reported a beneficial relationship that was found to be unrelated to physical activity in the categories of perceptual skills, intelligence quotient, achievement, verbal tests, mathematical tests, developmental level/academic readiness, and others, except memory. Instead of physical activity being irrelevant to memory in children between the ages of 4 and 18, it could be that higher-fitness preadolescents have greater hippocampal volumes than lower-fitness preadolescents. A greater hippocampal volume will result in improved executive regulation of memory, according to a previous study done by Chaddock and colleagues (Chaddock et al. 2010). They concluded that hippocampal volume was positively correlated with success on tasks of relational memory. Their results are the first to suggest that the structure and function of the pre-adolescent human brain could be linked to aerobic fitness. There are two different study designs used to test aerobic exercise on cognition in Best's (2010) meta-analysis of the effect of movement on the executive function of children. The first is chronic exercise, in which children are randomly allocated over several weeks to a regimen of aerobic exercise and subsequently tested at the end. The second is acute exercise, which explores the immediate improvements following each session in cognitive functioning. The findings of both show that aerobic activity can help the executive function of children temporarily and also affect more lasting enhancements to executive function. Other studies have indicated that exercise, possibly because of the criteria used to decide precisely what academic achievement is unrelated to academic success. The focus of this field of research has been on education boards that make decisions on whether to include physical education in the school curriculum, how much time to devote to physical education and its effect on other academic topics.

Another research showed that sixth-graders who participated at least three times a week in intense physical activity had the highest scores compared to those who participated at all in mild or no physical activity. On their academic exam, which consisted of math, science, English, and world studies, the children who engaged in intense physical activity scored three points higher on average.

Animal experiments have also shown that early on in life, exercise can affect brain growth. In the neural systems involved in learning and memory, mice that had access to running wheels and other such exercise devices had better neuronal development. Similar findings have been obtained through neuroimaging of the human brain, where exercise contributes to improvements in brain structure and function. Some studies have linked low levels of aerobic fitness in children with impaired executive function in older adults, but there is increasing evidence that a lack of selective attention, inhibition of response, and regulation of intervention may also be involved.

Brain Cancer

Brain cancer or tumor occurs when a mass or abnormal cell forms in the brain. This cancer can be benign (noncancerous) or malign (cancerous) as well as, primary (which begin in the brain and rarely spread to other parts of the body or secondary (which starts in different body parts and spread to the brain). There are different types of brain cancer, these are:

Studierfenster Brain Tumor Segmentation

1. Acoustic neuroma
2. Astrocytoma
3. Brain metastases
4. Choroid plexus carcinoma
5. Craniopharyngioma
6. Embryonal tumors
7. Ependymoma
8. Glioblastoma
9. Glioma
10. Medulloblastoma
11. Meningioma
12. Oligodendroglioma
13. Pineoblastoma
14. Pituitary tumors
15. Studierfenster

During the diagnosis of this cancer, patients are affected physically, cognitively, and emotionally provoking changes in their life. When patients are diagnosed with brain cancer, commonly they suffer from depression and fatigue. Some research has shown that exercise can help reduce the side effects presented during diagnosis. After treatment, patients suffer from fatigue, and a way to reduce it is by doing cardiovascular or aerobic exercises. On the other side, exercise has been demonstrated to make people feel better. This occurs because while exercising, it increases endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline, and endocannabinoid, which all are brain chemicals associated with feeling happy, confident, capable, less anxiety and stress, and also less physical pain.

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a brain disease that causes shaking, stiffness, and walking, balance, and coordination problems. The symptom of Parkinson gets worse at time passes. Patients over time can experience difficulties walking, and talking, as well as mental and behavioral changes. This illness occurs when nerve cells, or neurons, are damaged or die in a region of the brain that regulates movement. These neurons usually create an essential brain chemical known as dopamine. When this neuron dies or damages, it produces less dopamine causing the movement problems presented in Parkinson's. Some of the main symptoms presented in Parkinson's patients are: shake/twitch in hand, arms, legs, or head; slowness in movements; and poor balance or coordination. It has been shown that exercise can help promote both mental and physical symptoms presented. In a study published by the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy in 2009, investigators evidenced that exercise was successful in enhancing the balance of work efficiency and postural instability.