Efeitos dos exercícios físicos sobre a neurogênese do cérebro de ratos adolescentes

Introduction. The neurogenesis of the brain of young rats can be affected by several factors in their development, with the practice of physical exercises being an important factor in the neurogenesis of nervous tissue. Objective. To investigate the effects of different physical exercise protocols of medium and high intensity on neurogenesis in the brain of adolescent rats. Method. The experimental study, where three groups of animals were used: a control group (RC), a group that performed medium-intensity physical exercise (R1) and a group that performed high-intensity physical exercise (R2). Each group with 8 animals, totaling 24 animals. The progressive resisted physical exercise program on the vertical ladder was carried out for 4 weeks, 5 days a week with a duration varying between 30 and 45 minutes. After the end of the experiments, the animals were euthanized for removal of the brain and subsequent processing, staining using the Nissl method and histomorphometric analysis by counting neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and subventricular zone. Results. The data demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the area and height of the apex of the hippocampal dentate gyrus between the groups (p=0.2474 and p=0.3337; respectively). The results of the length of the apex of the hippocampal dentate gyrus showed significant differences (p=0.0172). Conclusion. The practice of medium and high intensity progressive resisted physical exercises did not modify the morphology and neuronal density in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and subventricular zone of young rats.