Physical exercise ameliorates age-related neuronal loss and is currently recommended as a
therapeutical aid in several neurodegenerative diseases. However, evidence is still lacking
to firmly establish whether exercise constitutes a practical neuroprotective strategy. We now
show that exercise provides a remarkable protection against brain insults of different
etiology and anatomy. Laboratory rodents were submitted to treadmill running (1 km/d)
either before or after neurotoxin insult of the hippocampus (domoic acid) or the brainstem (3 …