Get Moving, Grandpa: The Surprising Way Exercise Can Boost Your Grandkids’ Brainpower
Grandfather’s Cognitive Ability Passed Down to Grandson Through Exercise
Even if Father Doesn’t Do It, Grandfather’s Cognitive Ability is Inherited
A study published in The Journal of Neuroscience found that the cognitive benefits of physical exercise can be passed down through the generations from grandfather to grandson. Exercise is known to enhance neuroplasticity and improve cognitive abilities in various species, including humans.
Researchers at the University of Madrid in Spain used three generations of mice (F0 (grandfather), F1 (father), and F2 (grandson)) to investigate the effects of exercise on cognitive ability. The researchers randomly assigned male mice of the F0 generation to an exercise group and a sedentary control group. The exercise group received a moderate-intensity treadmill exercise regimen for six weeks, running at a speed of 0.72 km per hour for 40 minutes a day, five days a week.
The sedentary control group remained in their home cages without any physical activity. After completing the exercise protocol, sperm from F0 males were collected and used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) to generate the F1 generation, confirming that there was no effect of maternal exercise.
The F1 generation was not exercised at all, and the F2 generation was produced without any exposure to exercise. A total of 23 F2 male mice were used in the study, consisting of offspring of exercised and non-exercised grandfathers.
Cognitive performance of F2 mice was assessed using a battery of behavioral tests designed to assess different aspects of memory and learning, including the novel object recognition (NOR) test to measure nonspatial memory, the object location (OL) test to assess spatial memory, and the contextual fear conditioning (CFC) test to assess aversive memory and discrimination ability.
The results showed that F2 mice whose grandfathers exercised performed significantly better cognitively on several tests than F2 mice whose grandfathers did not exercise. They showed improved short-term memory recall in the NOR test and better detection of subtle changes in object location in the OL test. “Our results suggest that the cognitive benefits of exercise observed in the F0 generation were passed on to the F2 generation even if the intermediate generation did not exercise at all,” the researchers said.