Exercise can help boost memory through bone hormone: Study

Researchers have identified a naturally occurring bone hormone that can potentially reverse memory loss in the ageing brain through exercise.

The study on the hormone osteocalcin lends new insight into how lifestyle changes that affect the body, such as exercise, could positively affect the brain.

"Nearly everyone will experience age-related memory loss in their lifetime, so it is incredibly important to understand its causes and identify ways to mitigate it," said Eric R. Kandel, Professor at the Columbia University.

"With today's study, we are not only building a detailed understanding of how age-related memory loss originates in the brain, we've shown how osteocalcin interacts with key proteins in the brain to boost memory."

For many years, memory loss was treated as a singular disorder. But scientists have now begun to realise that Alzheimer's disease, begins in a part of the brain called the entorhinal cortex, which lies at the foot of the hippocampus.

On the other hand, age-related memory loss, begins within the hippocampus itself, in a region called the dentate gyrus, Kandel said. Read Complete Article