Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
This 2002 review looked at animal and human research on exercise and the brain. It reports that voluntary exercise in animals raises levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other growth factors, spurs the birth of new neurons, changes gene activity in ways that support plasticity, and can improve learning…
Many studies show that physical exercise helps brain health and can slow age-related thinking problems and lower the risk of some brain diseases and psychiatric disorders. A key part of these benefits is higher levels of the brain protein BDNF, which supports new brain cells and plasticity for learning and…
In this rat study, animals got a single injection of ibogaine at 20 mg/kg or 40 mg/kg and the researchers measured three neurotrophic factors (GDNF, BDNF, NGF) in four brain regions (VTA, prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra) at 3 and 24 hours. The main changes appeared at 24 hours:…
