title: Can Exercise Make You Smarter, Happier, and Have More Neurons? A Hormetic Perspective.
abstract: Exercise can make you smarter, happier and have more neurons depending on the dose (intensity) of the training program. It is well recognized that exercise protocols induce both positive and negative effects depending on the intensity of the exercise, among other key factors, a process described as a hormetic-like biphasic dose-response. However, no evidences have been reported till very recently about the biphasic response of some of the potential mediators of the exercise-induced actions. This hypothesis and theory will focus on the adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) as a putative physical substrate for hormesis responses to exercise in the context of exercise-induced actions on cognition and mood, and on the molecular pathways which might potentially be mediating these actions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Adult Neurogenesis, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology, Cajal Institute, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gradari
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Adult Neurogenesis, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology, Cajal Institute, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pallé
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Adult Neurogenesis, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology, Cajal Institute, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Kerry R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: McGreevy
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Adult Neurogenesis, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology, Cajal Institute, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ángela
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Fontán-Lozano
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Adult Neurogenesis, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology, Cajal Institute, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Trejo
keywords: adult hippocampal neurogenesis; biphasic dose-response; cognition; exercise; hormesis; molecular mechanisms; mood