With physical and mental activity, the brain produces lactate, a substance capable of enhancing neuronal communication involved in the generation of new memories
Exercise is understood as physical work that involves muscular movement; and when a person does it, his brain produces and releases lactate, a substance capable of modulating neuronal activity.
But intellectual or mental exercise also produces lactate that is released directly into the brain, where it has the ability to modulate neural activity; therefore “we took on the task of determining the role of this substance in the central nervous system, and more specifically, how it modulates neuronal communication in a region of the brain directly involved in the generation of new memories, such as the hippocampus” explained Emilio Galván Espinosa.
Lactate is a monocarboxylate, a molecule that is continuously produced in the muscles, but also in the brain. “In fact, lactate is a universal metabolic intermediate, a small molecule that is found everywhere, even in yogurt,” said Galván Espinosa, researcher at the Department of Pharmacobiology at Cinvestav Coapa Headquarters.
Scientific work shows that small increases in the concentration of extracellular lactate facilitate neuronal plasticity in a region of the brain that is critically involved in the generation and retrieval of memories. Furthermore, it is being shown for the first time that this molecule acts, through very specific mechanisms, in select groups of neurons.
The research group headed by Emilio Galván analyzes how the metabolites glycolysis, fermentation or the Krebs cycle (a succession of biochemical reactions that produce the energy that the brain consumes from glucose) modulate different neuronal communication processes. In the first instance, they try to understand how the elements of this metabolic cycle facilitate or decrease communication between neurons in the hippocampus.
“We show, for the first time, that very specific metabolites such as lactate, which is produced during exercise, modulate synaptic transmission in the brain”; said the researcher, who did his postdoctoral work at the Department of Neurosciences at the University of Pittsburgh.
This discovery led the researcher, who has a scientific interest in aging, to ask himself an additional question: why does an old brain, from an older adult, have a hard time and practically has no chance of learning new things, but can recover memories? his childhood.
“We are beginning to see that, in the specific case of lactate, it modulates neuronal activity during learning processes and now we are trying to understand what happens to lactate during aging,” explained Emilio Galván.
The researcher starts from the hypothesis that when people exercise they produce more lactate and with this, in some way, the cells become more efficient in transmitting their information, so he looks for all the alternatives behind this possibility to try to explain why exercise during aging is beneficial for memory and learning.
The study in progress looks at the impact of lactate on non-pathological brain aging, which is characterized only by a generalized loss of cognitive abilities.
“As soon as we understand the mechanistic alterations experienced by aging neural networks, we will have a window of opportunity to be able to attack their deterioration. However, it is necessary to understand in a timely manner how neuronal communication is modified throughout life in order to determine whether the brain ceases to be efficient as it ages”.
“What changes must be identified in order to propose pharmacological tools aimed at reversing that loss; that is to say, in the future it might be translated into a drug and it is a race once morest time, because we currently know that by restoring certain cellular elements that are lost with age, neurons become functional once more and recover their plastic capacities lost during aging ”, pointed out the researcher.
As we age, the brain must be used actively, “use it or lose it”, through any activity that keeps it working, to allow its networks to continue working and generating their metabolic products; the best is reading, solving crossword puzzles and walking is also recommended because it promotes the activation of all the biochemical processes of the body, considered Emilio Galván Espinosa.
