title: Acute moderate exercise improves mnemonic discrimination in young adults.
abstract: Increasing evidence suggests that regular moderate exercise increases neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus and improves memory functions in both humans and animals. The DG is known to play a role in pattern separation, which is the ability to discriminate among similar experiences, a fundamental component of episodic memory. While long-term voluntary exercise improves pattern separation, there is little evidence of alterations in DG function after an acute exercise session. Our previous studies showing acute moderate exercise-enhanced DG activation in rats, and acute moderate exercise-enhanced prefrontal activation and executive function in humans, led us to postulate that acute moderate exercise may also activate the hippocampus, including more specifically the DG, thus improving pattern separation. We thus investigated the effects of a 10-min moderate exercise (50% V̇O2peak) session, the recommended intensity for health promotion, on mnemonic discrimination (a behavioral index of pattern separation) in young adults. An acute bout of moderate exercise improved mnemonic discrimination performance in high similarity lures. These results support our hypothesis that acute moderate exercise improves DG-mediated pattern separation in humans, proposing a useful human acute-exercise model for analyzing the neuronal substrate underlying acute and regular exercise-enhanced episodic memory based on the hippocampus. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Sports Neuroscience, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suwabe
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Meiji Yasuda Life Foundation of Health and Welfare, Physical Fitness Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hyodo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Sports Neuroscience, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory University of California, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Kyeongho
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Sports Neuroscience, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Genta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ochi
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Neuroscience, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory University of California, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Yassa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Sports Neuroscience, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3061-4375
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Soya
mesh_terms: D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aerobic exercise; dentate gyrus; hippocampus; memory; pattern separation