Brain Protectors

Alzheimer’s disease, like other dementias, is characterised by memory loss, impaired cognition and mood changes. And, like other dementias, exercise can improve or stave-off these symptoms. Precisely how exercise provides such benefits is largely unknown, however. Through studies of a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers have now identified some exercise-induced cell and molecular changes in the brain. One key change is the activation of a certain type of glial cell (orange) that produces unusually high levels of cadherin-4 (magenta) – a cell-to-cell adhesion protein thought to be involved in the development and support of the brain’s neurons. These glia were present at unusually low numbers in the model mice, were induced by exercise and, based on their transcription (the process of DNA being 'read' to become protein) profiles, seemed to promote cell survival. Human brain samples from Alzheimer’s patients also had lower numbers of these cells compared with controls, indicating the glia could be clinically relevant for targeted therapies.

Written by Ruth Williams

Ruth Williams

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Ruth is a freelance science journalist based in the US. She's a regular correspondent for The Scientist, and her work has appeared in The Lancet, Nature, Scientific American Mind, BBC Focus and elsewhere. Twitter @rooph

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• Image by Luis Moreira and Mass General Brigham; relating to work published by Joana F. da Rocha & Michelle L. Lance, et al
• Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
• Image originally published with no restrictions – Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Research published in Nature Neuroscience, June 2025