Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona, Verona 37129, Italy.
Service of Clinical Governance, Provincial Agency for Social and Sanitary Services, Trento 38123, Italy.
J Sport Health Sci. 2020 Jan;9(1):74-81. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2019.07.012. Epub 2019 Sep 6.
The many important benefits of physical exercise also encompass maintenance or improvement of cognitive functions. Among the various mechanisms underlying the association between physical exercise and brain health, recent evidence attests that neurotrophin receptor signaling may have an important role, because the activation of this pathway leads to growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses, supports axonal and dendritic growth, fosters synaptic plasticity, and preserves survival of existing neurons. In this review of published evidence, we highlight that a positive relationship exists between physical exercise and circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels and that the postexercise variation of this molecule is associated with improvement of neurocognitive functioning. Less clear evidence has instead been published for other neurotrophins, such as nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3, and neurotrophin-4. Overall, promotion of adequate volumes and intensities of physical exercise (i.e., approximately 3 months of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, with 2-3 sessions/week lasting not less than 30 min) may hence be regarded as an inexpensive and safe strategy for boosting brain-derived neurotrophic factor release, thus preserving or restoring cognitive functions.
体育锻炼的诸多重要益处还包括认知功能的维持或改善。在体育锻炼与大脑健康之间的关联的各种机制中，最近的证据表明神经营养因子受体信号可能具有重要作用，因为该途径的激活会导致新神经元和突触的生长和分化，支持轴突和树突的生长，促进突触可塑性，并维持现有神经元的存活。在对已发表证据的综述中，我们强调了体育锻炼与循环脑源性神经营养因子水平之间存在正相关关系，并且该分子在运动后的变化与神经认知功能的改善有关。然而，对于其他神经营养因子，如神经生长因子、神经营养因子-3 和神经营养因子-4，发表的证据则不太明确。总的来说，促进适量和适度强度的体育锻炼（即大约 3 个月的中等强度有氧运动，每周 2-3 次，每次持续不少于 30 分钟）可以被视为一种增加脑源性神经营养因子释放的廉价且安全的策略，从而维持或恢复认知功能。
