Spark

Learning requires strengthening the affinity between neurons through a dynamic mechanism called long-term potentiation (LTP).

When we exercise, particularly if the exercise requires complex motor movement, we’re also exercising the areas of the brain involved in the full suite of cognitive functions.

the body’s sensitivity to other neurochemical changes they trigger.

Overall, it improves the function of neurons, encourages their growth, and strengthens and protects them against the natural process of cell death. And—as I hope to make clear throughout this book—BDNF is a crucial biological link between thought, emotions, and movement.

During pregnancy, estrogen and progesterone levels remain exponentially higher than normal, and in some cases this stabilizes mood and alleviates anxiety and depression. Indeed, pregnancy can change a number of different systems for the better.

Among those with the least cognitive decline over a four-year period, three factors turned up: education, self-efficacy, and exercise.

Once it became clear that BDNF was present in the hippocampus, an area of the brain related to memory and learning, researchers set out to test whether it’s a necessary ingredient in the process.

What we now know is that the brain is flexible, or plastic in the parlance of neuroscientists—more

BDNF is a crucial biological link between thought, emotions, and movement.