Quelltext der Seite Process That Makes Running Long Distance Easy Boosts Memory

Marathon runners may be smarter than the rest of us, researchers have found.<br>They discovered the same bodily process which helps fuel the body efficiently is also responsible for memory and learning.<br>They say the discovery could point to potential treatments in regenerative and developmental medicine as well as ways to address defects in learning and memory.<br>         Energy for   muscles and brains, the scientists discovered, is controlled by a single protein called estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERRγ).<br>         Researchers discovered that physical and mental activities rely on a single metabolic protein, ERR, that controls the flow of blood and nutrients throughout the body.<br><br>In this image, ERR is shown (stained red) in the hippocampus, the area of the brain largely responsible for memory.<br>'This is all about getting energy where it's needed to 'the power plants' in the body,' says Ronald Evans of Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory, who led the research. <br>'The heart and muscles need a surge of energy to carry out exercise and neurons need a surge of energy to form new memories.'<br>Energy for muscles and brains, the scientists discovered, is controlled by a single protein called estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERRγ). <br>Evans' research group has previously studied the role of ERRγ in the heart and skeletal muscles. <br>In 2011, they discovered that promoting ERRγ activity in the muscle of sedentary mice increased blood supply to their muscles and doubled their running capacity. <br>ERRγ, they went on to show, turns on a whole host of muscle genes that convert fat to energy.<br>Thus, ERRγ became known as a master metabolic switch that energized muscle to enhance performance. <br>Although studies had also shown that ERRγ was active in the brain, researchers didn't understand why-the brain burns sugar and ERRγ was previously shown to only burn fat. <br>   RELATED ARTICLES  Previous 1 Next       The device that makes ANY home smart: $250 Neurio keeps tabs...    The body armour inspired by FISH: Scaly material could lead...    The mystery of life solved? Study reveals how primordial DNA...    Google under fire amid claims its YouTube for kids app uses...     <br><br><br><br>Share this article<br>Share<br>240 shares<br><br><br>So the team decided to look more closely at what the protein was doing in brain cells.<br>By first looking at isolated neurons, Liming Pei, lead and co-corresponding author of the paper, found that, as in muscle, ERRγ activates dozens of metabolic genes in brain cells. <br>Unexpectedly, this activation related to sugar instead of fat.<br><br>Neurons that lacked ERRγ could not ramp up energy production and thus had a compromised performance.<br>'We assumed that ERRγ did the same thing throughout the body,' says Evans.<br>'But we learned that it's different in the brain.' ERRγ, they now conclude, turns on fat-burning pathways in muscles and sugar-burning pathways in the brain.<br>         A better understanding of the metabolism of neurons could help point the way to improved treatments for learning and attention disorders.And possibly, revving up levels of ERRγ could even enhance learning, just as it enhances muscle function.<br>It could also explain why many great thinkers have also been keen sportsman. <br>The cryptographer Alan Turing who cracked the Enigma code could run a marathon in two hours 46 minutes and nearly qualified to represent Britain in the 1948 Olympics.<br>Evans and his collaborators found that ERRγ in live mice was most active in the hippocampus-an area of the brain that is active in producing new brain cells, is involved in learning and memory and is known to require lots of energy. <br>They wondered whether ERRγ had a direct role in learning and memory.<br><br>By studying mice lacking ERRγ in the brain, they found a link.<br>While mice without the protein had normal vision, movement and balance, they were slower at learning how to swim through a water maze-and poor at remembering the maze on subsequent trials-compared to mice with normal levels of ERRγ.<br>'What we found is that mice that missing ERRγ are basically very slow learners,' says Pei.<br><br>Varying levels of ERRγ could also be at the root of differences between how individual humans learn, he hypothesizes. <br>'Everyone can learn, but some people learn and memorize more efficiently than others, and we now think this could be linked to changes in brain metabolism.'<br>         British long distance runner Mo Farah wins the Lisbon Half-Marathon 2015 in Portugal.Researchers sya he may also be better at remembering things than normal people.<br>A better understanding of the metabolism of neurons could help point the way to improved treatments for learning and attention disorders. <br>And possibly, revving up levels of ERRγ could even enhance learning, just as it enhances muscle function.<br>'What we've shown is that memories are really built on a metabolic scaffold,' says Evans.<br> 'And we think that if you want to understand learning and memory, you need to understand the circuits that underlie and power this process.'<br> <br>