Disease Linkage
See also: Neuroplasticity and Medulla oblongataVarious studies have shown possible links between BDNF and conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Rett syndrome, and dementia, as well as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Short bouts of exercise can produce an increase in serum BDNF which is hypothesized to be cancelled by exposure to air pollution. In rodents, BDNF gene expression in the brain may also be down-regulated following exposure to air pollution.
Increased levels of BDNF can induce a change to an opiate-dependent-like reward state when expressed in the ventral tegmental area in rats.
Read more about this topic: Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor
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