Running tired? No wonder, it is your brain

A team of researchers at the University of Copenhagen can now explain why the brain tires out after a long exercise. The researchers are hoping to use the results to detect the use of doping in athletes, writes to nyheder.ku.dk

The research is shedding light on a paradox that has long puzzled the sports sciences. Although it was well established that the chemical Serotonin is released in the body during exercise and help us stay active, it was, on the other hand, unclear why the body at some point reaches exhaustion and is forced to stop.

“We have always known that the neurotransmitter serotonin is released when you exercise, and indeed, it helps us to keep going. However, the answer to what role the substance plays in relation to the fact that we also feel so exhausted we have to stop has been eluding us for years. In other words, serotonin functions as an accelerator, but also as a brake when the strain becomes excessive”, says lecturer Jean-François Perrier from Institute for Neuroscience and Pharmacology.

Watch out, doped athletes

Jean-François hopes that the new insights will be useful in a number of ways. The actual phenomena where the brain and nerve system is affected, and not the body, has been known for about 80 years.

What actually happens is that the brain ceases to communicate to the muscles that they should keep working. And this can now be measured with various scientific instruments, which makes the research an important step towards detecting doping.

“In combating the use of doping, it is crucial to identify which methods athletes use to prevent central fatigue and thereby continue to perform beyond what is naturally possible. And the best way of doing so is to understand the underlying mechanisms”, says Jean-François.

Check out the original story here.

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