Exercise May Be the Key to Avoiding Diabetic-Related Memory Loss

The findings indicate that moderate exercise could be employed to treat memory impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes by promoting the transfer of glycogen-derived lactate to hippocampal neurons.

Did you know that memory loss and diabetes are linked? The impaired glucose metabolism associated with type 2 diabetes can trigger central nervous system-related complications, including memory loss.  But a University of Tsukuba study in Japan suggests that moderate exercise may improve hippocampal memory dysfunction caused by type 2 diabetes noting that enhanced transport of lactate to neurons may be the underlying mechanism, fueling the problem.

The hippocampus is an important component of the brain’s memory formation.  The University of Tsukaba researchers tested whether hippocampal glucose metabolism and memory function is compromised in rat models of type 2 diabetes. The scientists believed that exercise normalises glycometabolism and improves memory function. The team also investigated the effects of exercise on hippocampal glycometabolism and memory formation.

The scientists evaluated hippocampal function by placing a  rat in a circular pool and testing its ability to remember the location of a platform that would allow it to escape from the water. “This is a well-established method for measuring spatial learning and memory,” study first author Takeru Shima says.

The findings indicate that moderate exercise could be employed to treat memory impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes by promoting the transfer of glycogen-derived lactate to hippocampal neurons.

Glycogen levels are altered in tissues of diabetes patients, leading to a variety of complications. However, glycogen levels have not yet been investigated in the hippocampus. “We showed for the first time that glycogen levels are significantly higher in the hippocampus of diabetic rats,” corresponding author Hideaki Soya says.

The researchers insist that their findings are the first to describe detailes profiles of glycometabolism in type 2 diabetic hippocampus and to show that  four weeks of moderate exercise   improves memory dysfunction in type 2 diabetes via amelioration of dysregulated hippocampal glycometabolism and that dysregulated hippocamal lactate-transport-related glycometabolism is a contributing caused of diabetes memory dysfunction.

So what are you waiting for? Start exercising!