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<title>Hormone links exercise with cognitive benefits | National Institutes of Health (NIH)</title>
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<div about="/news-events/nih-research-matters/hormone-links-exercise-cognitive-benefits" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" class="ds-1col node node--nih-research-matters view-mode-full node--full node--nih-research-matters--full clearfix">
<p class="publishdate"><span property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2021-09-14T00:00:00-04:00" class="date-display-single">September 14, 2021</span></p><div class='syndicate'><h1>Hormone links exercise with cognitive benefits</h1><div class="callout callout-with-border"><h3>At a Glance</h3>
<ul>
<li>Researchers found that irisin, an exercise-induced hormone, improves cognitive performance in mice.</li>
<li>The hormone, which is identical in people, could potentially be used to treat cognitive disorders such as Alzheimers disease.</li>
</ul></div><div class="media-float-right"><div class="ds-1col file file-image file-image-jpeg view-mode-floated_media clearfix">
<picture title="Mature Asian woman running in a park among colorful fall foliage">
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<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2021/20210914-exercise.jpg?itok=J8j7Esc3&amp;timestamp=1631552633 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 800px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium-small/public/news-events/research-matters/2021/20210914-exercise.jpg?itok=dVsJRtJ4&amp;timestamp=1631552633 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 600px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-small/public/news-events/research-matters/2021/20210914-exercise.jpg?itok=1Yfm4BPj&amp;timestamp=1631552633 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 480px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-tiny/public/news-events/research-matters/2021/20210914-exercise.jpg?itok=oD_tTQS8&amp;timestamp=1631552633 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 0)" />
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<img src="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2021/20210914-exercise.jpg?itok=J8j7Esc3&amp;timestamp=1631552633" alt="Mature Asian woman running in a park among colorful fall foliage" title="Mature Asian woman running in a park among colorful fall foliage" />
</picture><span class="caption">A study in mice may explain why exercise improves cognitive function during aging. </span><span class="credit">Maridav / Shutterstock.com</span></div>
</div><p>Exercise may benefit brain health and improve cognitive performance during aging. Its also associated with reduced Alzheimers disease risk and cognitive decline. But the mechanisms responsible arent well understood. Factors secreted into the bloodstream may play a role. If so, these factors would be promising leads for developing treatments for cognitive disorders.</p>
<p>Past studies found that exercise induces production of FNDC5, a protein found on the surfaces of certain cells. FNDC5 can activate neuroprotective genes in the hippocampus, the brain region in charge of memory formation. The outer part of FNDC5 can be cleaved off to form a hormone called irisin, which is released into the bloodstream. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Christiane Wrann at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, investigated whether irisin is responsible for mediating the cognitive benefits of exercise.</p>
<p>The study was supported in part by several NIH institutes (see below). Results appeared in <em>Nature Metabolism </em>on August 20, 2021.</p>
<p>First, the researchers deleted the gene encoding FNDC5 in mice, thereby removing irisin. They then compared the effects of exercise on cognitive performance in these “knockout” mice and in control mice. Some mice had an exercise wheel to run on, while others did not.</p>
<p>Control mice who could freely exercise showed improved cognitive performance over those that could not. But in the knockout mice, exercise made no difference in cognitive performance. The knockout mice also showed greater cognitive decline with age than control mice.</p>
<p>Next, the researchers delivered irisin directly into the mices brains. Doing so improved cognitive performance in both knockout and control mice.  </p>
<p>The team examined the neurons in the knockout mice in a part of the hippocampus. They found that newly born neurons in this area had abnormal activation patterns, structure, and gene activity.</p>
<p>The researchers then tested the therapeutic potential of irisin in mouse models of Alzheimers disease. They delivered the gene for irisin into the mice, which led to irisin production in the liver. The blood of these mice, in turn, contained elevated irisin levels. Two months after treatment, the researchers tested the mices cognitive performance. The irisin-treated mice performed better on the tests than untreated mice. Treated mice also showed signs of reduced neuroinflammation—a process related to neurodegenerative diseases—in the hippocampus. In addition, the researchers found that irisin could cross the blood-brain barrier to act on the brain.</p>
<p>These results suggest that exercise may improve cognitive performance by increasing irisin levels. “This is particularly important inasmuch as irisin, a small natural peptide, would be much easier to develop into a therapeutic than the much larger membrane-bound protein FNDC5,” Wrann says.</p>
<p>Irisin is identical in mice and people. Its blood levels in people have also been shown to rise with endurance exercise. It could thus potentially help to treat a variety of cognitive disorders. Wrann adds, “since irisin does not specifically target amyloid plaques, but rather neuroinflammation directly, were optimistic it could have beneficial effects on neurodegenerative diseases beyond just Alzheimers.”</p>
<p>—by Brian Doctrow, Ph.D.</p></div><h2 class="label-above">Related Links</h2><ul class="spaced print-urls"><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/exercise-induced-protein-may-reverse-age-related-cognitive-decline" target="_top">Exercise-Induced Protein May Reverse Age-Related Cognitive Decline</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/exercise-new-nerve-cell-growth-alzheimers-disease" target="_top">Exercise and New Nerve Cell Growth in Alzheimers Disease</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/shivering-triggers-brown-fat-produce-heat-burn-calories" target="_top">Shivering Triggers Brown Fat to Produce Heat and Burn Calories</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/moderate-exercise-may-improve-memory-older-adults" target="_top">Moderate Exercise May Improve Memory in Older Adults</a></li><li><a href="https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2019/10/well-aged-mind" target="_top">A Well-Aged Mind: Maintaining Your Cognitive Health</a></li><li><a href="https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/seniors/dealing-dementia" target="_top">Dealing with Dementia: When Thinking and Behavior Decline</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/exercise-physical-activity" target="_top">Exercise and Physical Activity</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers" target="_top">Alzheimers Disease &amp; Related Dementias</a></li></ul><p class="footnote"><strong class="label-inline">References:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34417591/">Exercise hormone irisin is a critical regulator of cognitive function.</a> Islam MR, Valaris S, Young MF, Haley EB, Luo R, Bond SF, Mazuera S, Kitchen RR, Caldarone BJ, Bettio LEB, Christie BR, Schmider AB, Soberman RJ, Besnard A, Jedrychowski MP, Kim H, Tu H, Kim E, Choi SH, Tanzi RE, Spiegelman BM, Wrann CD. <em>Nat Metab.</em> 2021 Aug;3(8):1058-1070. doi: 10.1038/s42255-021-00438-z. Epub 2021 Aug 20. PMID: 34417591</p><p class="footnote"><strong class="label-inline">Funding:&nbsp;</strong>NIHs National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK); Cure Alzheimers Fund; Alzheimers Association; Massachusetts General Hospitals McCance Center for Brain Health, Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award, and Molecular Imaging Core; Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center; Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute; Harvard Brain Science Initiative; Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR); FRAXA Research Foundation; Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada (FXRFC); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); The JPB Foundation</p>
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