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Aerobic exercise increases sprouting angiogenesis in the male rat motor cortex

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Abstract

Exercise is beneficial to brain health, and historically, the advantageous effects of exercise on the brain have been attributed to neuronal plasticity. However, it has also become clear that the brain vascular system also exhibits plasticity in response to exercise. This plasticity occurs in areas involved in movement, such as the motor cortex. This experiment aimed to further characterize the effects of exercise on structural vascular plasticity in the male rat motor cortex, by specifically identifying whether features of angiogenesis, the growth of new capillaries, or changes in vessel diameter were present. Male rats in the exercise group engaged in a 5-week bout of voluntary wheel running, while a second group of rats remained sedentary. After the exercise regimen, vascular corrosion casts, resin replicas of the brain vasculature, were made for all animals and imaged using a scanning electron microscope. Results indicate sprouting angiogenesis was the primary form of structural vascular plasticity detected in the motor cortex under these aerobic exercise parameters. Additionally, exercised rats displayed a slight increase in capillary diameter and expanded endothelial cell nuclei diameters in this region.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Amanda S. Nazario, Brittany S. Larsen, and Yael S. Greenburg for their contributions to data collection. When optimizing the vascular corrosion cast procedure, we appreciate the advice received from Dr. Eric P. Meyer and Dominic D. Quintana. We are also grateful to Dr. Marianna Orlova for her assistance with lyophilization of the samples.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2441 E. Hartford Ave. Garland Hall, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Morgan E. Stevenson, Chelsea C. Miller & Rodney A. Swain

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Heather A. Owen

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  1. Morgan E. Stevenson
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  2. Chelsea C. Miller
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  3. Heather A. Owen
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  4. Rodney A. Swain
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the design of the experiment. The vascular corrosion casts were generated by MES and CCM. The scanning electron microscopy was completed by MES under the direction of HAO. Data were analyzed and interpreted by MES, and MES wrote the manuscript. All authors edited and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Morgan E. Stevenson or Rodney A. Swain.

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Stevenson, M.E., Miller, C.C., Owen, H.A. et al. Aerobic exercise increases sprouting angiogenesis in the male rat motor cortex. Brain Struct Funct 225, 2301–2314 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-020-02100-y

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