title: The effect of different intensities of treadmill exercise on cognitive function deficit following a severe controlled cortical impact in rats.
abstract: Exercise has been proposed for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the proper intensity of exercise in the early phase following a severe TBI is largely unknown. To compare two different treadmill exercise intensities on the cognitive function following a severe TBI in its early phase, rats experienced a controlled cortical impact (CCI) and were forced to treadmill exercise for 14 days. The results revealed that the rats in the low intensity exercise group had a shorter latency to locate a platform and a significantly better improvement in spatial memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) compared to the control group (p < 0.05). The high intensity exercise group showed a longer latency and a mild improvement in spatial memory compared to the control group rats in the MWM; however, this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and p-CREB protein levels in the contralateral hippocampus were increased significantly in the low intensity exercise group. Our results suggest that 2 weeks of low intensity of treadmill exercise is beneficial for improving cognitive function and increasing hippocampal BDNF expression after a severe TBI in its early phase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China. drliap@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiafeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Aiping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Yongshan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015444:Exercise; D006801:Humans; D018782:Maze Learning; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor