Project 460975

Exercise is widely touted as medicine for our health and for aging well. Of particular relevance to healthy aging, exercise is shown to benefit our cognitive health and our capacity to remain physically mobile, and thereby allowing us to live independently and well. However, how exercise brings about its many benefits is still largely unknown. A better understanding of the "how" could help us refine exercise recommendations to better promote healthy aging; it can also lead to novel interventions or treatments. It is now recognized that muscles do so much more than contract and move us. Research shows that muscles, particularly in response to exercise, release molecules that communicate will other organs in the body, including the brain (also known as muscle-brain crosstalk). These molecules, called myokines, appear to be essential in how exercise brings about its benefits for physical, cognitive, and mental health. The discovery of the myokines has opened a new direction in understanding the effects of exercise on health. However, very little research about muscle-brain crosstalk has been done in older adults. Thus, we have invited world leaders to share and discuss how we can better understand the role of muscles, or myokines, in how exercise benefits older adults. The meeting will include researchers and stakeholders to ensure all perspectives are included and considered while planning future critical research in the area of "muscle-brain crosstalk" for healthy aging.