Run like you\u2019re being chased<\/p>\n
The results suggest a new role for this area of the brain, says Dayu Lin<\/a>, a neuroscientist at New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. But she notes that it\u2019s important to consider the results from a non-human perspective. \u201cMice don\u2019t exercise,\u201d she says. \u201cDo they voluntarily think, \u2018I need to get fit to so I\u2019m gonna get on the running wheel?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Lin notes that this area of the hypothalamus is also associated with how animals respond to predators. Lin wonders if the effects of the exercise on the brain could be because the animals are running like they would if they were under extreme stress\u2014the stress of predation.<\/p>\n Mice run on a treadmill during an experiment examining how exercise activates neurons in the brain\u2019s ventromedial hypothalamus\u2014a region that may help drive improvements in endurance.<\/p>\n Video by Morgan Kindle<\/p>\n Betley and his colleagues repeated some of the studies with mice that were not on treadmills. Instead, the animals were given access to running wheels in their cages, but not forced to run. The mice ran with gusto, and the researchers showed that when they blocked SF-1-containing cells in these animals, they failed to benefit from the increased movement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n (This one-minute workout could transform your health<\/a>.)<\/p>\n