PMID- 25119155 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20150617 LR - 20211021 IS - 1179-2035 (Electronic) IS - 0112-1642 (Linking) VI - 44 IP - 11 DP - 2014 Nov TI - Physical activity, air pollution and the brain. PG - 1505-18 LID - 10.1007/s40279-014-0222-6 [doi] AB - This review introduces an emerging research field that is focused on studying the effect of exposure to air pollution during exercise on cognition, with specific attention to the impact on concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and inflammatory markers. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that regular physical activity enhances cognition, and evidence suggests that BDNF, a neurotrophin, plays a key role in the mechanism. Today, however, air pollution is an environmental problem worldwide and the high traffic density, especially in urban environments and cities, is a major cause of this problem. During exercise, the intake of air pollution increases considerably due to an increased ventilation rate and particle deposition fraction. Recently, air pollution exposure has been linked to adverse effects on the brain such as cognitive decline and neuropathology. Inflammation and oxidative stress seem to play an important role in inducing these health effects. We believe that there is a need to investigate whether the well-known benefits of regular physical activity on the brain also apply when physical activity is performed in polluted air. We also report our findings about exercising in an environment with ambient levels of air pollutants. Based on the latter results, we hypothesize that traffic-related air pollution exposure during exercise may inhibit the positive effect of exercise on cognition. FAU - Bos, Inge AU - Bos I AD - Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1st floor, U-residence, Generaal Jacqueslaan 271, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. FAU - De Boever, Patrick AU - De Boever P FAU - Int Panis, Luc AU - Int Panis L FAU - Meeusen, Romain AU - Meeusen R LA - eng PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PT - Review PL - New Zealand TA - Sports Med JT - Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) JID - 8412297 RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0 (Cytokines) SB - IM MH - Air Pollution/*adverse effects MH - Animals MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*blood MH - Cognition/*physiology MH - Cognition Disorders/etiology MH - Cytokines/blood MH - Exercise/*physiology MH - Humans MH - Inflammation/blood/*complications MH - *Inhalation Exposure MH - Oxidative Stress/physiology EDAT- 2014/08/15 06:00 MHDA- 2015/06/18 06:00 CRDT- 2014/08/15 06:00 PHST- 2014/08/15 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2014/08/15 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2015/06/18 06:00 [medline] AID - 10.1007/s40279-014-0222-6 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Sports Med. 2014 Nov;44(11):1505-18. doi: 10.1007/s40279-014-0222-6.