1 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: Everyone, Welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. In fact, 2 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: this is the last one of two and twenty five, 3 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: and today we're going to dive into some pretty cool 4 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: new science about how exercise doesn't just strengthen your body, 5 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: but also boost your brain in ways that were not 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: previously understood. And all of this comes down to some 7 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: very tiny particles floating around in your blood, called extracellular 8 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: vesicles or evs for short. Now, unless you are a 9 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: full card carrying biology nerd, you probably haven't heard much 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: about these little guys, if even anything at all. But 11 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: trust me, they are turning out to be a big deal. 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: So here is the latest research. When you engage in 13 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: vigorous physical activity, you're not just burning calories or building muscle. 14 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: You're actually triggering a cascade of biological processes that include 15 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: the release of these evs, their little tiny membrane bound 16 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: bubbles that carry all sorts of biological cargo like proteins, lipids, 17 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: and even nucleic acids. Now, these little vesicles, actually, it 18 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: turns out, helps yourselves to talk to each other, and 19 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: recent research has shown that they can travel through the 20 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: bloodstream and even cross the blood bur and barrier carrying 21 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: really important cargo. Now why does this all matter? Well, 22 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: the new study that I read recently was published in 23 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the 24 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: Medical Sciences branch of that journal, and in it, researchers 25 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: out of Turo University in Nevada have discovered that these 26 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: ev the latch onto something called POMC right, which is 27 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:11,399 Speaker 1: short for propio milano corton. This is a hormone precursor 28 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: or a pro hormone that actually gets turned into several 29 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: important hormones such as endorphins, which you'll probably know where 30 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: feel good chemicals in the brain, but also gets turned 31 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: into acth adrenal cardotropic hormone that's the hormone that helps 32 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: you respond to stress. And we know from other lines 33 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: of research that a deficiency in POMC can cause extreme hunger, 34 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: severe obasicly, but it can also cause adrenal insufficiency and 35 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: even and I love this one, can even cause pale 36 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: skin and make you into a ginger. It causes red 37 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: or ginger her when you have an insufficiency. So there 38 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: must be why spreading insufficiencies of POMC back in Celtic history. 39 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,839 Speaker 1: But anyway, back to the podcast, here's the exciting bit 40 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: that the research has just discovered, after about of intense exercise, 41 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: the amount of POMC hitching a ride on evs increased fourfold. 42 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: Now that's far from a subtle increase. A fourfold increase 43 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: is clearly a very deliberate biological mechanism. But here's the 44 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: game changer. What these researchers find is that the PMC 45 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: that was bound up in the evs can actually cross 46 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: biological barriers such as the blood briant barrier, way more 47 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: efficiency than POMC floating around on its own. So what 48 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: does this actually mean in real world terms. Well, first 49 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: of all, let's talk about mood. No doubt, I've heard 50 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: of the runners high that euphoric feeling you get if 51 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: they're a good workout. It's not just a run that 52 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: you get it in. But turns out it's not a flick. 53 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: These evs are helping deliver hormone precursors into the brain 54 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: that can then be converted into mood boosting endorphins. And 55 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: that's one very plausible mechanism, or at least part of 56 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: the mechanism by which exercise is such a powerful mood 57 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: enhancer and antidepressant, and as I've discussed previously, absolutely trumps 58 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: antidepressant medication. But it actually goes deeper than this. This 59 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: new research suggests that the exercise induced evs may also 60 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: help us to modulate pain and damping inflammation, help us 61 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: with our energy balance and even metabolic function, all by 62 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: acting as smart transport shuttles. It's kind of like your 63 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: body has got built in uber eats for your brain, 64 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 1: and exercise actually sends out the fleets are are books 65 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: the ubers. What's also remarkable is how these evs know 66 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: what to pick up and this is really super interesting. Well, 67 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:14,239 Speaker 1: it is for gig like me under exercise induced stress 68 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: such as acidification of the blood. You know when you 69 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: get that lactic acid your blood turns acid from that 70 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: high intensity exercise. 71 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 2: The POMC actually changes shapes slightly and this allows it 72 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 2: to bind more readily to specific receptors on the surface 73 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 2: of the evs, which is how it gets a lift 74 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 2: in the first place. And that's pretty freaking clever stuff. 75 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 2: And once on board. 76 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: These hormone packed evs get a free pass into areas 77 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: like the brain where they can have all kinds of 78 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: effects and most of them very very beneficial. So this 79 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: is actually a bit of a new paradom. I think 80 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: it's one where exercise doesn't just impact the body through 81 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: MACA or cardiovascar effects, which have been well established for decades, 82 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: but also through targeted molecular messaging via these tiny evs. 83 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: And add this to the exercise driven MYO kinds that 84 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,239 Speaker 1: I talk about so many times. 85 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 2: And it's simply undeniable that exercise is a very potent, 86 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 2: if not the most potent driver of metabolism and body 87 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 2: brain health. 88 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: And there's just so much stuff that is organized around 89 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: exercise in our metabolism that this is it's just undeniable 90 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: for me. And from a broad or health perspective, this 91 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: mechanism opens up a whole new world for medical science. 92 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: As these researchers point out in the journal article. If 93 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: these evs can carry hormone precursors into the brain efficiently, 94 00:06:55,360 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: could we potentially use this same system to deliver therapy 95 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: peutic drugs across the blood brain barrier. Could this be 96 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: a new way to manage conditions like depression, chronic pre 97 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: in or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkins's and Alzheimer's like. 98 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: It is very early days, as the researchers point out, 99 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: but the potential is massive, and until we explore that potential, 100 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: there is a takeaway. You know, if you did need 101 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: yet another reason to move your body, but this time 102 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: at higher intensity, whether that's running, hit, lifting weights, cycling, 103 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: anything that gets your heart ate up significantly, this is 104 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: the reason your workout might just be fueling your brain 105 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: in ways that we have never understood before. These are 106 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: tiny evs but a big brain boost. So that is 107 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: it this week for and actually for the year for 108 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: Wisdom Wednesday. So the big take home, get moving, get 109 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: those evs flowing. I'll catch you next time.