Benefits of physical activity in neurotrophic factors

This work is a review with a main objective: to develop knowledge about physical activity in neurotrophic factors. We have outlined three objectives within the affective, psychomotor and cognitive domains. These are respectively: the value of the practice of physical activity (PA) and to explain the relationship between the practice of PA and neurotrophic factors. For the accomplishment of this work, informative documents were searched through Google Scholar, Online Library of Knowledge (B-ON), PubMed and Scopus DataBase. The study addresses the concept of PA, the benefits and factors associated with adherence, persistence and abandonment of regular physical activity and in a second phase the concept of neurotrophic factors and the relationship that exists between the practice of PA and neurotrophic factors. Physical exercise increases the expression of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). A connection has been established between physical exercise, the levels of this neurotrophin and its beneficial effects on the brains of animals and humans. It has recently been shown that exercises sessions are capable of increasing serum and plasma BDNF concentration in addition to an increase in BDNF expression in skeletal muscle. In this review will be approached the effect of physical exercise on the expression of BDNF in the brain. Recent studies have shown that there is a potential benefit in increasing BDNF expression and release by brain and some peripheral tissues, induced by exercise, resulting in an improvement in brain function. (Cite this article as: Batista M, Honório SA, Serrano J, Petrica J, Santos J. Benefits of physical activity in neurotrophic factors. Minerva Ortop Traumatol 2018;69:84-9. DOI: 10.23736/S0394-3410.18.03883-3)