Currently, it has been shown that neurotrophin deficiencies are involved in different diseases such as **epilepsy**, **Alzheimer’s** disease, **Parkinson’s** disease, and **depression**. Neurotrophins or neurotrophic factors are a family of proteins consisting of nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-1 (NT-1), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4 (NT-4). They are released into the bloodstream and are able to bind to receptors on certain cells to stimulate their survival, growth, or differentiation. One of their functions is to prevent target neurons from initiating apoptosis, thus allowing neurons to survive.
What is BDNF?
Mark Tuszynski, from the University of California, demonstrated that one of the factors integrated into this protein family – known as **BDNF** – prevented neuronal death in models of brain injury in primates and rats, and also cognitive dysfunction in the same aged animals. **BDNF** is also considered important for long-term memory (Insua, 2003).
One way to increase **brain neurotrophins** is to make the brain work to produce larger quantities of these substances. That is, the more active brain cells are, the more **neurotrophins** they will produce, which in turn will generate greater connections between different areas of the brain. The consequence will be a brain with better functioning, better memory, and a better mood (Insua, 2003).
Most daily activities consist of a series of routines that make the brain function automatically, with minimal wear, requiring minimal energy. In other words, routine activities are unconscious, experiences travel along the same already formed **neural pathways**, and there is no neurotrophin production. It is beneficial to make the brain “run” with new and different actions. Training such as ISEP’s **Master in Clinical Neuropsychology** will broaden your perspectives on evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention within the different clinical pathologies that involve Central Nervous System affection and alterations and/or deterioration of cognitive and behavioral processes.
According to **Iván Izquierdo**, a prestigious Argentine **neuroscientist**, the best recommendation is to read, read, and read, as reading activates all regions of the cerebral cortex (Insua, 2003). On the other hand, physical activity is one of the effective resources to increase neurotrophin levels. In fact, it has emerged as a modulator of higher mental functions throughout life, as it has been shown to affect various neurotransmitter systems. Specifically, **brain-derived neurotrophic factor** (BDNF) is a key mediator in improving synaptic connections and the brain’s ability to change and remodel these connections (plasticity), dependent on use.
Neurotrophic Exercises
In experiments with rats, it was observed that after several days of voluntarily running on a wheel, at least 1-2 km per day, **BDNF** levels increased in hippocampal cells, a highly plastic structure normally associated with higher cognitive functions rather than motor activity. Changes in the levels of this factor were found in neurons, particularly those of the dentate gyrus (gyrus dentatus or GD), the hilus, and the CA3 region of the hippocampus. These changes appeared within a few days, in both female and male rats, and were sustained over time after several weeks of exercise, with a consequent increase in **BDNF protein** quantities. In addition to increased BDNF levels in the hippocampus, they were also found in the lumbar spinal cord, cerebellum, and cortex.
Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the average distance run per day and the increase in BDNF in the hippocampus. Although other trophic factors, including nerve growth factor (NGF) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), are also induced in the hippocampus in response to exercise, their increase was transient and less sustained than that caused by BDNF expression, suggesting that the latter is a better candidate as a mediator of the long-term benefits of exercise on the brain.
Research in humans suggests that exercise can maintain or improve **brain plasticity**. Learning, a higher function requiring high plasticity, increases the expression of the **BDNF gene**, which in turn facilitates learning. These evidences predict that mechanisms inducing BDNF gene expression, such as exercise, can improve learning. Furthermore, running increases a memory-related mechanism called **long-term potentiation** (LTP) in the GD and improves spatial learning in water maze tests in rats.
To increase neurotrophin production and thus enhance brain plasticity, the Center for Neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center (USA) proposes a series of simple exercises that you can apply to your patients with the training obtained from the **master’s in neuropsychology**:
1. Try showering with your eyes closed: locate the faucets, adjust the water temperature, find the soap, and find the shampoo.
2. Use your non-dominant hand to eat, write, open toothpaste, or brush your teeth.
3. Read aloud to activate different brain circuits than when reading silently.
4. Change itineraries and take different routes to go to work or return home.
5. Modify routines and change the location of everyday objects.
6. Learn something new: computer science, photography, cooking, yoga, dancing, or a language.
7. Identify objects without looking at them. For example, recognize different fruits or vegetables by touch.
8. Do different things. Go out, talk to people of different ages, jobs, and ideologies. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Go to the countryside, walk on the beach, in the mountains, climb, etc.