Exercise is known to improve mood and memory, but the biological pathways connecting physical activity to brain function remain not entirely understood. In a new study published in Brain Medicine, researchers at University College Cork investigated how voluntary wheel running in adult rats reshapes the gut microbiota and its metabolic output, with consequences for the hippocampus. They found that exercise reduced two tryptophan-metabolizing bacterial genera, Alistipes and Clostridium, while enhancing circulating tryptophan metabolites including the serotonin catabolite 5-hydroxytryptophol. Exercise also decreased expression of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor specifically in the dorsal hippocampus, a brain region critical for memory. The findings suggest a coherent microbiota-gut-brain pathway through which exercise may benefit cognitive function.

In their Research review article, “Generative Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging: Foundations, Progress, and Clinical Translation,” Hairong Zheng and Shanshan Wang (Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.) et al. provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances in generative modeling for medical imaging.