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Brain Structure and Function
Published in: Brain Structure and Function 8/2020

01-11-2020 | Original Article

Aerobic exercise increases sprouting angiogenesis in the male rat motor cortex

Authors: Morgan E. Stevenson, Chelsea C. Miller, Heather A. Owen, Rodney A. Swain

Published in: Brain Structure and Function | Issue 8/2020

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Abstract

Exercise is beneficial to brain health, and historically, the advantageous effects of exercise on the brain have been attributed to neuronal plasticity. However, it has also become clear that the brain vascular system also exhibits plasticity in response to exercise. This plasticity occurs in areas involved in movement, such as the motor cortex. This experiment aimed to further characterize the effects of exercise on structural vascular plasticity in the male rat motor cortex, by specifically identifying whether features of angiogenesis, the growth of new capillaries, or changes in vessel diameter were present. Male rats in the exercise group engaged in a 5-week bout of voluntary wheel running, while a second group of rats remained sedentary. After the exercise regimen, vascular corrosion casts, resin replicas of the brain vasculature, were made for all animals and imaged using a scanning electron microscope. Results indicate sprouting angiogenesis was the primary form of structural vascular plasticity detected in the motor cortex under these aerobic exercise parameters. Additionally, exercised rats displayed a slight increase in capillary diameter and expanded endothelial cell nuclei diameters in this region.
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Metadata
Title
Aerobic exercise increases sprouting angiogenesis in the male rat motor cortex
Authors
Morgan E. Stevenson
Chelsea C. Miller
Heather A. Owen
Rodney A. Swain
Publication date
01-11-2020
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Brain Structure and Function / Issue 8/2020
Print ISSN: 1863-2653
Electronic ISSN: 1863-2661
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-020-02100-y

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