“Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have discovered that a molecule triggered by running can help repair certain kinds of brain damage in animal models. They found that this molecule, called VGF nerve growth factor, helps to heal the protective coating that surrounds and insulates nerve fibres.”
Voluntary running triggers VGF-mediated oligodendrogenesis to prolong the lifespan of Snf2h-null ataxic mice. Matías Alvarez-Saavedra, Yves De Repentigny, Doo Yang, Ryan W. O’Meara, Keqin Yan, Lukas E. Hashem, Lemuel Racacho, lya Ioshikhes, Dennis E. Bulman, Robin J. Parks, Rashmi Kothary, and David J. Picketts. Cell Reports (2016), dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.09.030 . October 11, 2016.