Have you ever wondered if spending a
weekend binge-watching tv shows on Netflix is really that bad for your health?
Researchers are saying that there could be actual detrimental effects in
neurons as a result of leading a sedentary life.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1157/542629880_7285e8421f_o.jpg
A recent study by Mischel et al, 2014,
focuses on the effects of a sedentary lifestyle on the brain. While many
studies in the past research have shown that exercise can change the brain with
growth of new neurons and synapses, this study sought to discover if inactivity
could change the brain in the opposite way. Scientists at Wayne State
University School of Medicine compared the brains of rats allowed access to a
running wheel to those of rats denied a means to exercise.
The part of the brain that Mischel and
colleagues studied was the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), in which they
injected a dye. The RVLM has neurons that are associated with the control of
sympathetic nerves and blood pressure. After 12 weeks of either being active or
sedentary, the brains of the rats were compared. It turned out that there were
noticeable differences in the shape of some of the neurons in that region of
the brain between the active rats and the inactive rats. The scientists found
that the shape of the neurons of the active rats remained similar after the 12
weeks of activity. On the other hand, the inactive rats had neurons with many
more branches than before, making them more sensitive to stimuli. The
researchers suggest that this over sensitivity will lead to an overstimulation
of the sympathetic nervous system, which could increase blood pressure and
contribute to heart disease.
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| RVLM Neuron of Active Rat |
This study is especially interesting for
neurophysiologists because it is another example of how the neurons of the
brain can display plasticity. This study furthers develops our understanding of
neuronal plasticity by showing that not only can new neurons form, but the
shape of neurons, specifically the dendrites, can change as well. The
researchers also emphasize that not only can stimuli change the brain, but so
can a lack of stimuli. It would be interesting to see if these effects on rats
carry over to the human brain.
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| RVLM Neuron of Sedentary Rat |
Sources:
Banalities. June 10, 2007. Digital Image. Flickr. Yahoo! Inc. Web. 6 April, 2015. <https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1157/542629880_7285e8421f_o.jpg>
Mischel NA, Llewellyn-Smith IJ, and Mueller PJ (2014) Physical
(In)Activity-Dependent Structural Plasticity in
Bulbospinal Catecholaminergic Neurons of Rat Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla. The Journal of Comparative Neurology.
522:499–513
I think it would be interesting as well to see the effects not only that inactivity have on the brain, but also some of the activities associated with inactivity. People often say that TV, the computer, and other screens "rot your brain", so I would be interested to see the actual medical/ scientific impact of screens on the brain, and also is any amount of screens unhealthy, or how much is too much?
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with Hunter that it would be interesting to determine the impact of screens on the brain, especially in our technology-obsessed world. The authors of this paper suggested that the increase in sensitively of the neurons was due to a lack of input so I would be curious to see what the constant input of a screen would do to this sensitivity.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that inactivity can lead to overstimulation, not understimulation. I can see a connection here between this idea and the idea of upregulation of receptors when they aren't stimulated enough.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting post!! I have heard that obesity leads to neuronal disorders in the long term. I wonder if there is a connection between inactivity resulting in obesity, which is leading to unhealthy stimuli.
ReplyDeleteDid the study provide a reason for testing the rostral ventrolateral medulla? Do you think other parts of the brain would respond differently to the lack of exercise? I would assume they would respond the same, but it would be interesting to know why they chose to test that specific part of the brain.
ReplyDeleteDid the study provide a reason for testing the rostral ventrolateral medulla? Do you think other parts of the brain would respond differently to the lack of exercise? I would assume they would respond the same, but it would be interesting to know why they chose to test that specific part of the brain.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article, and I think that it is very applicable to us as college students who sit in the library for hours. I also think that the comments from Hunter and Jodi are interesting; I'm sure that looking in to the different subgroups that could be made could yield some informative results. It would have been interesting to see if the age of the rats had anything to do with the degree of change observed in the brains of each rat.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article, and I think that it is very applicable to us as college students who sit in the library for hours. I also think that the comments from Hunter and Jodi are interesting; I'm sure that looking in to the different subgroups that could be made could yield some informative results. It would have been interesting to see if the age of the rats had anything to do with the degree of change observed in the brains of each rat.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post very much. It did raise some questions for me though mainly surrounding the level of activity in the rats. It would be interesting to see if it is just the lack of activity that causes RVLM issues or if increased levels of activity could improve the RVLM in rats. This could mean that even more activity is even better for you which would be interesting to test.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly makes sense that being inactive and taking too much time on the computer would have some sort of negative impact on the brain. However, I'd like to see some research done on other parts of the brain, not the RLMV. Did inactivity cause lack of neurons directly, or did the reduced exercise lead to cardiovascular problems, which then led to issues with the RLMV?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jack, I felt that this study really over simplified the effects of exercise and inactivity on the brain. Could it be possible that the rats that were give a wheel to exercise on have a have increased activity in neurons because of the unnatural type of exercise they are doing in a lab setting? I was thinking of adding some sort of control where rats were given access to larger cages where they have more space to run and climb in a natural way. I think it is safe to assume the lack of activity might have had some sort of effect on the brain, but because there was no "natural" activity to compare it to, they are comparing unnatural exercise with zero exercise, which leaves them with no control to compare the two conditions to. It is hard in the experiment to determine what effected what because of the experimental method.
ReplyDeleteCollege students lead fairly sedentary lifestyles considering we spend a significant amount of time in class and in the library or studying. As hard as we try, we still spend a large portion of our time sitting. This is interesting because this post suggests that we may be hurting our brain, while at the same time studying in order to learn more. My question is whether age is a factor in all of this? If younger people have sedentary lifestyles (like a college student, for instance), will it have the same effect on the brain as when an elderly person spends all their time sitting in front of the TV?
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