{"id":576768,"date":"2026-04-28T11:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=576768"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:11:19","slug":"exercise-also-strengthens-nerves-in-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/exercise-also-strengthens-nerves-in-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise also strengthens nerves in the heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_576769\" style=\"max-width: 1150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright vertical\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-576769 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RPF-notas-corrida-2025-11-1140.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1140\" height=\"712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RPF-notas-corrida-2025-11-1140.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RPF-notas-corrida-2025-11-1140-250x156.jpg 250w, https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RPF-notas-corrida-2025-11-1140-700x437.jpg 700w, https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RPF-notas-corrida-2025-11-1140-120x75.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"media-credits-inline\">L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP <\/span>Physical training affects the nerves on each side of the heart differently<span class=\"media-credits\">L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Pesquisa FAPESP <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p>In addition to strengthening the heart itself, frequent moderate aerobic exercise alters the nerves (bundles of fibers formed by extensions of neurons) that control the organ, according to a study by the University of Bristol, UK, the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), and the Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP). The research also found that physical training affects the nerves on each side of the heart differently. Rats trained for 10 weeks had approximately four times more neurons in the cardiovascular group on the right side of the body than on the left, compared to untrained rats. Meanwhile, neurons on the left side nearly doubled in size, while those on the right shrank slightly. &#8220;These nerve clusters act like the heart\u2019s dimmer switch,\u201d said the University of Bristol\u2019s Augusto Coppi in a statement. &#8220;The discovery points to a previously hidden left\u2013right pattern in the body\u2019s \u2018autopilot\u2019 system that helps run the heart.&#8221; Understanding this division between left and right, he adds, could help to more effectively treat a range of problems, such as irregular heartbeats and chest pain (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1566070225001006\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Autonomic Neuroscience<\/em><\/a>, September 24).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Regular aerobic exercise also strengthens nerves in the heart","protected":false},"author":475,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1651],"tags":[260],"coauthors":[785],"class_list":["post-576768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notes","tag-public-health"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":576777,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576768\/revisions\/576777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576768"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=576768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}