This belief was fueled, in part, by the fact that certain motor (movement) and cognitive (thought) functions tend to decline the older we get. But should this suggest that it’s all downhill once we approach a certain age and that we have no choice but to wait for the inevitable decline?
Brain Cells and the Hippocampus
While the vast majority of our brain’s cells are formed while we are in the womb, there are certain parts of the brain that continue to create new neural cells during infancy. Until recent decades, however, the brain’s limited capacity to regenerate triggered the belief that neurogenesis—the birth of new brain cells—ceased soon after this stage. However, research done over the last two decades has suggested that at least one part of the brain continues to create new cells throughout a person’s lifespan. During the late 1990s, researchers at Rockefellers University in New York City conducted studies in which marmoset monkeys were injected with a tracer chemical that could differentiate between slow-dividing mature brain cells and fast-dividing new ones. What they found was that the hippocampus (a region of the brain associated with memories, learning, and emotions) continued to create new cells without the constraint of age or time. Later studies using carbon-14 dating (which evaluate the age and process of cellular development) confirmed that cells in the hippocampus, while continually dying, were quickly replaced by new ones. It is only by the formation of these cells that the hippocampus is able to maintain its central functions. What it also showed us is that the number of new cells, and the frequency by which they are created, begin to decline with age. With that being said, the rate of decline wasn’t seen to be consistent and could vary significantly from subject to subject.
What Research Tells Us About the Birth of New Brain Cells
The above research is considered important as is suggests that there are factors that can stimulate and inhibit the process of adult neurogenesis. It even hints at possible models for treating degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and even reversing damage caused by traumatic brain injury.
Exercise Your Body
Among the factors that can potentially “amp up” this process, exercise has been considered an important one. Early animal research conducted by scientists at the University of Chicago found that aerobic exercise led to both an increase in cell production in the hippocampus and increases in the amount of genetic information being encoded. What this tells us is that not only does the function of the brain improve, the cells themselves are better able to store information for learning and memory. Research from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 reported that aerobic exercise among 120 older adults increased the actual size of the hippocampus by two percent and effectively reversed the aging-related cell loss by one to two years.
Exercise Your Brain
In addition to exercise, scientists have found that enriched learning environments can also contribute to the survival of old cells and the production of new ones. In short, it is suggested that the more you exercise your brain, the more you will be able to maintain optimal brain function. On the flip side, there are factors that directly undermine neurogenesis. Chief among these is age. We know, for example, that by the time many adults reach their 80s, many of the neural connections in the hippocampus will be lost.
More Findings
Recently, a new study performed at the University of California at San Francisco failed to demonstrate the development of new neurons in the hippocampus of almost 30 adult patients, fueling the controversy of whether neurogenesis in adults does indeed occur. Future research with a large number of patients and the development of techniques that allow for imaging of new neurons in the living brain will be necessary to definitively confirm or refute the theory of neurogenesis in adults. This ongoing controversy should not discourage you from exercising physically and mentally—even if it does not help neurogenesis, its effects on your overall health are incontestable.
