Learning keeps the brain healthy

 

Washington, March 3,2010:

Learning keeps the brain healthy and helps in limiting 

the debilitating effects of ageing on memory and the mind,

a new study confirms.

UC Irvine neurobiologists are providing the first 

visual evidence that learning promotes brain health --

and, therefore, that mental stimulation could stave

off age-related cognitive and memory decline.

Using a novel visualisation technique they devised

to study memory, a research team led by Lulu Chen 

and Christine Gall found that everyday forms oflearning

animate neuron receptors that help keep brain cells 

functioning at optimum levels. 

 

These receptors are activated by a protein called 

brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which facilitates

the growth and differentiation of the connections, or

synapses, responsible for communication among neurons.

BDNF is key in the formation of memories.

"The findings confirm a critical relationship between learning

and brain growth and point to ways we can amplify that relationship

through possible future treatments," 

says Chen, a graduate researcher in anatomy and neurobiology.

Study results appear in the early online edition of the 

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the

week of March 1, according to ScienceDaily.com.

"This relationship has implications for maintaining good brain health," 

says Gall, a professor of anatomy and neurobiology.