Researchers at King’s College London have unveiled that a lack of exercise and poor nutrition may increase the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, through its potential impacts on hippocampal neurogenesis (HN).
The study was released in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“Using an in vitro neurogenesis assay, we examined the effects of serum samples from a longitudinal cohort (n = 418) on proxy HN readouts and their association with future cognitive decline and dementia across a 12-year period,” according to researchers.
The study led to attributing exercise and diet with altered apoptosis and less hippocampal progenitor cell integrity, these factors in which may predict cognitive decline and dementia.
“Diet and exercise might influence neurogenesis long before the onset of cognitive decline and dementia,” researchers concluded in their journal report.
“Alterations in HN could signify the start of the pathological process and potentially represent biomarkers for cognitive decline and dementia.”
