Widely Available Supplement May Explain Brain Boost from Exercise

A new study suggests selenium may play a key role in exercise-mediated memory improvement in mice.

Scientists have known for years that a good workout increases the human brain’s ability to grow neurons and elevates a person’s mood. How and why this process occurs remained a puzzle until a recent study by a team from the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute connected exercise with increased levels of selenium.

Neuroscientist Tara Walker found that exercising mice produce a protein containing selenium, which stimulates their brains to produce more neurons. She thinks the element could ease mental decline in older people, and possibly benefit brain injury patients.

Research of nutritional biochemist Bárbara Cardoso and co-workers at Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute suggests that selenium – found in legumes, grains, and Brazil nuts – can improve verbal and mental abilities in older people. She thinks selenium...