Metabolic Syndrome and the Teenage Brain
Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is associated with neurocognitive impairments in adults, but this is thought to be a long-term effect of poor metabolism. Researchers at New York University thought it would be important to ascertain whether these brain complications are also present among adolescents with MetS, a group with relatively short duration of poor metabolism. They found that the teenagers with MetS had lower scores on tests of mental ability and significantly lower academic performance in reading and arithmetic. MRI scans showed brain changes in children with MetS, including reduced volume in the hippocampus, a part of the brain believed to be involved in memory formation and storage. These results strongly argue for an early and comprehensive intervention for childhood obesity.

Exercise, Testosterone and the Brain
It is widely accepted that regular exercise alters the brain by improving the ability to remember and think. A growing body of literature has established that exercise spurs the creation of new brain cells, (neurogenesis) but just how exercise affects the structure of the brain has remained unknown. Researchers from Japan examined how exercise could enhance local androgen synthesis and promote adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN). They found that in male animals, mild exercise enhances hippocampal synthesis of dihydrotestosterone and increases AHN.