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Exercise Enhances Long Term Memory

Mice that spent time running on wheels developed twice the normal number of new brain cells and increased their ability to distinguish new objects from familiar objects compared to inactive mice, reports a new study by researcher of the University of Basel. The results have been published in the journal Brain Plasticity.

02 December 2015

Exercise can result in the development of new brain cells in adult humans and animals – a process called adult neurogenesis. There has long been evidence suggesting that physical activity can improve neurogenesis. However, the precise functional role of new neurons for memory and learning remains under investigation.

A team of researchers led by Professor Josef Bischofberger from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel has now tested two groups of mice: one group was able to voluntarily use a running wheel, while the other group did not have a wheel. The researchers used a novel object recognition task in which the rodents had to distinguish a familiar object from a new one.

Mouse on chess board
Mouse during memory test: Mice that had been running in a wheel showed better long term memory than inactive mice. © University of Basel

Active mice remember subtle differences

The test makes use of the innate curiosity of mice. First, the animals were made familiar with two identical objects in a familiar test box. After having been able to rest in their nests, they were placed in the test box again either after 90 minutes or 24 hours. In the meantime, one of the objects had been replaced. The particular difficulty: the new objects looked very similar to the familiar ones.

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