近日，一项刊登在Physiology & Behavior杂志上的研究证实：与那些不怎么喜欢运动的老年人相比，经常进行体力活动的老年人的大脑认知功能减不易随着年龄的增长而退化。
虽然研究前期研究表明了体力活动的增加能提高人包括动物体内的有氧代谢能力以及学习能力，但还不知道是体内有氧代谢水平的提高还是参与体力活动时的娱乐心情增高了我们大脑的认知能力。该项研究揭示了有氧代谢能力的上升而不是体力活动本身在提高我们认知功能方面发挥关键作用。
在这项研究中，研究人员将试验用老鼠选择性地共繁殖了23代，以提高老鼠的耐长跑能力。在这些繁殖了23代的老鼠中，有些长跑能力很强，有些老鼠长跑能力较差。
研究者对这些老鼠进行辨别学习测试的训练，这一测试主要用来计算老鼠的认知能力。注意的是在老鼠接受训练之前，试验老鼠不能有任何过多体力运动。实验开始时，工作者训练老鼠完成某种动作后，给予老鼠食物作为奖赏。在这些接受这一训练后，老鼠基本已熟悉这一规则，这个时候研究人员会将这一规则颠倒，要求老鼠们舍弃旧的规则，训练老鼠继续学习新的规则。
结果发现体内有氧代谢能力高的老鼠在学习新的规则方面优于有氧代谢能力低的老鼠，这一结果暗示有氧代谢能力的大小是影响认知能力高低的主要因素。
研究人员表示：将来，我们还要重点研究是不是在人身上也会出现类似结果。假如是，我们希望呼吁老年人多参加体育活动来预防因大脑老化所带来的认知功能退化。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.01.011
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Selective breeding for endurance running capacity affects cognitive but not motor learning in rats
Jan Wikgrena,Georgios G. Mertikasb, Pekka Raussia, Riina Tirkkonena, Laurayrv inena, Markku Pelto-Huikkoc, Lauren G. Kochd, Steven L. Brittond, Heikki Kainulainenb,et al.
The ability to utilize oxygen has been shown to affect a wide variety of physiological factors often considered beneficial for survival. As the ability to learn can be seen as one of the core factors of survival in mammals, we studied whether selective breeding for endurance running, an indication of aerobic capacity, also has an effect on learning. Rats selectively bred over 23 generations for their ability to perform forced treadmill running were trained in an appetitively motivated discrimination-reversal classical conditioning task, an alternating T-maze task followed by a rule change (from a shift-win to stay-win rule) and motor learning task. In the discrimination-reversal and T-maze tasks, the high-capacity runner (HCR) rats outperformed the low-capacity runner (LCR) rats, most notably in the phases requiring flexible cognition. In the Rotarod (motor-learning) task, the HCR animals were overall more agile but learned at a similar rate with the LCR group as a function of training. We conclude that the intrinsic ability to utilize oxygen is associated especially with tasks requiring plasticity of the brain structures implicated in flexible cognition.
