SUMMARY:   You can’t outrun a bad diet, but that said, you must still move for brain health!  This post shares a study that published last week, [Choi et al 2018], that found that the brain cognition benefit of exercise(that would be new neuron production (aka neurogenesis) AND increased production of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNE)) could NOT be achieved by drugs alone because those newly produced neurons could not survive in the inflamed Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) brain tissue.  However, it was achieved in a mice AD model by combining drugs and gene therapy to simultaneously turn on neurogenesis and BDNF production, but there is NOT YET a way to safely achieve the same effect in humans using drugs and gene therapy.  The Pearl:  Induce both new neuron neurogenesis and BDNF via exercise in order to let the newly produced neurons survive and thrive!  Specifically, for brain health, Joyce Gomes-Osman’s study looked at almost 100 existing studies associating exercise with 122 different tests for brain function, having data for over 11,000 older people. [Gomes-Osman et al 2018] found ⇒ Exercise one hour, three times a week using a diverse regimen that includes aerobic exercise, resistance training, AND mind-body exercises like tai-chi  because all are associated with evidence specifically supporting benefits for brain health in both people without cognitive decline as well as those with mild cognitive impairment or dementia.     ♥♥♥ Go move! ♥♥♥                                        Exercise  ⇒⇒   New Neurons +++ BDNF  ⇒⇒  IMPROVES Cognition!   Additionally, another important reference  for appreciation of other factors beyond movement impacting cognition and AD, is:  Alzheimer’s Dementia Bredesen Approach.