Friday, April 13, 2018

Fitness Could Improve Offsprings Intelligence

    In a recent experiment at with mice at the University Medical Center Göttingen it was found that exercise has a noticeable impact on the learning ability of not only the mice experiencing it but also their offspring. For the experiment two groups of male mice were taken. One group spent 10 weeks going through plenty of exercise and cognitive training and the other in a standard cage without it (the control group) . At the end of the 10 weeks it was found that the group that went through exercise and cognitive training showed a "significant increase" in synaptic activity in the hippocampus. In a follow up experiment the same thing was done but instead at the end of the 10 weeks the mice were mated with females. It was found that the offspring of the mice that were cognitively trained and exercised also showed increased synaptic activity when compared tot he offspring of the control group.

    This is important because it shows further evidence for the existence of epigenetics, the idea that things outside of genes themselves can affect inheritance. The research was very well done and it along with similar types of experiments can really help to expand the field of epigenetics and perhaps bring it to a level where human epigenetics can be well understood. Much like developing genome editing technology epigenetics could be the key to helping to eliminate traits that are harmful to human beings and overall improving the quality of life for the average person.

Article - https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321495.php
Journal Link - http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(18)30404-2


2 comments:

  1. Very interesting research talked about in this post. Exercise is something that is talked about frequently in regards to overall health and wellness but rarely in regards to offspring. Increased physical activity in these mice I assume would increase their fitness. If this data does have any correlation to humans, this may explain why we frequently see professional athletes children also become professional athletes.

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  2. This was very informative. Exercise has almost always been harmless and more beneficial to us in many ways. Doctors always recommend exercise to those who are capable. Exercise helps the heart get stronger, forms more neural pathways, lowers stress, and can even help us live longer. One can never go wrong by performing exercise.

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