Published in the journal Brain Research, the study highlights how physical activity not only protects healthy brain cells but also restores balance in the aging brain.

The research focused on the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory and learning, and measured the impact of aerobic exercise on key Alzheimer’s markers: amyloid plaques, tau tangles, and iron accumulation in myelin-producing cells known as oligodendrocytes. These markers are central to Alzheimer’s pathology.

Findings revealed that rodents who completed a structured aerobic exercise programme experienced:

• Significant reductions in tau tangles (around 63% with exercise), amyloid plaques (about 76% in the exercise group), and iron accumulation (reduced by about 58% in the brains of exercising rodents).
• Enhanced brain cell health, including increased numbers of protective oligodendrocytes.
• Reduced brain inflammation in the exercise group (between 55% and 68% depending on the inflammatory biomarker considered), and cell death.
• Improved communication between brain cells, restoring critical balance in the brain’s function as it ages.

Read the full University of Bristol news item

Paper: ‘Tau, amyloid, iron, oligodendrocytes ferroptosis, and inflammaging in the hippocampal formation of aged rats submitted to an aerobic exercise program’ by R.C. Gutierre, P.R. Rocha, A.L. Graciani , A.A. Coppi, R.M. Arida in Brain Research.