By Dana Dovey
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Including regular exercise and brain stimulation into your daily routine isn't just good for your personal health. A new animal study from Germany shows it may also improve learning skills in your future children.
In a study published Tuesday in Cell Reports, a research team from the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) exposed adult male mice to environments that were rich in stimulation for both their brains and their bodies. Past research showed these environments can lower the risk for some brain diseases such as dementia in mice and humans by enhancing brain flexibility, the study explained.
However, the new research revealed that these benefits reached far beyond the mice that were exposed to the stimulating environment. A closer look at the sperm of the exercised mice showed their exercise and brain stimulation affected RNA molecule in their sperm. RNA is a genetic molecule that is involved in protein synthesis and the transmission of genetic information. The researchers also observed changes in the DNA in the mouse sperm. However, the exercise and brain stimulation did not actually alter the mouse DNA, but rather how certain genes are expressed. This is due to a process known as epigenetics.
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In addition, testing of the subsequent offspring of these mice revealed the second generation displayed enhanced cognitive skills. These mice performed better on tests measuring their learning ability than offspring of control mice who were not exposed to the stimulating environment.
Study co-author André Fischer from DZNE, told the BBC that these epigenetic changes subtly modified brain development in the mouse offspring and helped to improve their brain cell connections. "This results in a cognitive advantage for the offspring," said Fischer.
It's not clear if the same results occur in humans and further research will be needed to confirm this. However, if true it could suggest that regular exercise and brain stimulation goes further than just protecting and individual's brain during natural aging, but may also give their future offspring a potential head start in life.
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