Exercise and Brain Function
A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2015) | Viewed by 162770
Special Issue Editor
Interests: applied neuroscience; brain function; basal ganglia; Parkinson’s disease; neurological wellness; neurodegeneration; cognitive function; motor control; gait; balance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Evidence for the beneficial effects of exercise is abundant. Risk associated with many diseases can be significantly reduced with exercise, however, the influence of exercise on brain function has been a highly debated topic. This is especially the case when it pertains to populations who have suffered from brain damage or neurodegeneration. Most of us would agree that increasing physical activity will offer some health benefits for the secondary ailments that accompany neurological illnesses, but when the question is whether or not clinical motor or cognitive symptoms can be ameliorated, the answer is not quite so clear.
An equally important question is whether certain targeted exercises should have potential for improving brain function. For example, should aerobic exercise necessarily improve oxygen delivery to an oxygen-deprived brain, or might it be better to attempt to improve neuromuscular integration through resistance exercises? Or, is there a true benefit to cognitive function through mental exercise, and could this be extended to dementia populations.
In addition, many strategies and sensory tricks have been suggested to bypass faulty neurological pathways, although it is important to consider the true underlying mechanism of these benefits.
The current special issue is intended to collect a selected number of articles that demonstrate how exercise might influence brain function. And further to investigate how neurological populations might benefit from specific and targeted exercise.
Dr. Quincy J. Almeida
Guest Editor
Keywords
- exercise
- brain
- neuroplasticity
- cognitive function
- motor control
- physical activity