Jogging the Brain By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

[김충진(뉴저자)]

이 카페에 가입 한 후 처음으로 올려 보는 글 입니다. 양선배 께서 "자작글"에 대한 정의는 내리신 것 같은데, 그 정의에 의하면

아랫글은 자작글은 못됩니다. 신문에 난 기사를 제대로 번역 한 것도 아니고 내가 이해한 핵심 정도를 요약 했으니까요.  하지만 이글은   정치나 종교에 관한 글은 아니니 "자작글"이 아니어도 괞찬치 않을까 생각되어 올려 봅니다.

Jogging the Brain

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS      

아랫글은  술과 운동의 결과를 쥐에 실험한 결과를 이야기 하고있다. 

그러므로 그 결과가 사람들에게도 똑같이 적용 될 수 있는지는 모를 일이다.  

하지만 많은 실험들은 이같이 쥐나 다른 동물들에게 먼저 시험 해 보고 꼭 필요하면 사람에게 직접 한다.

내용을 짧게 줄이면, 술을 마시면  뇌의 기억 저장고 (brain’s memory center) 라고 불리우는 

hippocampus 안에 있는 신경세포 (neurons)의 수를 감소 시킨다고 한다.  뿐만아니라  그 안에 있는 

mitochondria  를 쇠약하게 만든다고한다.  

미토콘드리아는 세포안의 에너지를 생성하는 작용을 하기때문에 미토콘드리아가 손상 되면 결국 뇌세포를  손상 시키거나 죽이게 된다.  전문가(의사)들은 그 기전이 이렇게 간단한 것은 아니라고 말 하지만,  

쥐 실험에 의하면 “술을 마시면 뇌세포가 손상되거나 죽는다. "  쥐의 경우 2주를 계속 술을 멕였더니 뇌세포의 20%가 망가졌다고 한다.  그런데 이렇듯 술먹은 쥐에게  "격한 운동 (jogging)을 일정 시간 시켰더니, 뇌세포가 재생되어 술마시기 이전 상태를 유지 할 수 있었다고 한다."

이 실험에서 대충 감 잡을 수 있는 사실은, “술 많이 마시면 뇌세포 망가지고 망녕 (alcoholic dementia) 든다.   하지만 열나게 운동 (산행 등) 하면  현상 유지는 할 수 있다.”  이겁니다.  물론 뇌세포 뿐 아니라  술은 “간”에 엄청난 악영향을 끼칩니다.  이 악영향도 운동 으로 역전 될 수 있는지 는 저는 모릅니다.  결론은 ,”산에서 땀을 빼야 술을 마시드라도 살아 남는다.” 입니다.  하이킹을 권장합니다.

The holiday season is a good time for a reminder that alcohol can do bad things to the brain. Studies on animals suggest that it reduces the number of neurons in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, and weakens mitochondria there. Because mitochondria help produce energy within cells, their impairment can damage or kill brain cells. But two new animal studies offer some succor: Aerobic exercise, it turns out, may meliorate some of the impacts of heavy drinking on the brain.

Both studies were presented earlier this month at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego. The first, conducted by physiologists at the University of Louisville, involved adult male mice. Every day for 12 weeks — the equivalent of several human years — groups of mice received either injections of alcohol or salt water. Half the animals in each group were then put through daily treadmill workouts. These exercise sessions were short but intense: roughly two-tenths of a mile run at a strenuous pace.

The second study focused on binge drinking. Researchers from the University of Houston inserted tubes into the stomachs of female rats to provide consistent doses of either alcohol or nonalcoholic liquid every Monday night for 11 weeks. Half the rats in each of these two groups were then kept idle in their cages for the rest of the week, while the other half ran on wheels for up to two hours, three days a week.

In each study, the brains of the rodents that exercised after receiving alcohol were substantially different from those of their sedentary counterparts. The inactive mice had weakened mitochondria in many neurons; the runners had hardy mitochondria. The sedentary rats given alcohol had almost 20 percent fewer neurons in their hippocampi than the control animals. The rats who were made to work out, though, had as many neurons as the controls, even if they were given alcohol.

“It’s well known that running increases neurogenesis” — that is, the creation of new brain cells — according to J.L. Leasure, the associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston who oversaw the rat study. So it seems likely that running stabilized the total number of brain cells in the bingeing rats, she says, even if some neurons died as a side effect of alcohol consumption. Exercise is also known to improve mitochondrial health in the brain.

This does not mean working out is a license to be a lush, Leasure says, adding that alcohol probably has other undesirable effects within the brain that are not countered by exercise. Nor has research shown how much or what types of exercise provide the best protection — or even whether animal studies like these translate to people. There is also your liver to consider, along with other bodily consequences. Still, if you overdo it this holiday season, Leasure says, going for a run is “probably wise.”