The long run: neuroprotective effects of physical exercise on adult neurogenesis from youth to old age.

Since the pioneering works of Henriette van Praag, growing data from mice and humans suggest that physical exercise has an important function in reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases and delaying age-related cognitive deterioration. Here we review recent findings concerning the beneficial action exerted by physical exercise on the adult brain throughout different stages of life from adolescence to old age, focusing on the contribution of hippocampal adult neurogenesis to partially mediate the neuroprotective role of running counteracting intellectual decline and disease-related cognitive impairment in older adults.