Exercise along with occasional fasting is good for boosting the brain's neurons, shows a new research.
The research on animals showed how intermittent fasting in rats and mice can enhance learning and memory and decrease the risk of degeneration of those brain functions.
"We have evidence that exercise and probably intermittent fasting increase the number of mitochondria in neurons," said Mark Mattson, neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging in the US.
Intermittent fasting may improve performance on cognitive tests and change neural network connections.
The stress of fasting and exercise helps the brain adapt and improve the energy flow of neurons.
In fact, fasting and exercise seem to increase the production of a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that boosts cell growth.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience here recently.
