{"id":10714,"date":"2025-09-25T17:43:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T09:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=10714"},"modified":"2025-09-25T17:43:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T09:43:58","slug":"regular-exercise-rewires-heart-control-nerves-differently-on-left-and-right-side-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/regular-exercise-rewires-heart-control-nerves-differently-on-left-and-right-side-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Regular exercise \u2018rewires\u2019 heart-control nerves differently on left and right side, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Frequent exercise doesn\u2019t just strengthen the heart \u2013 it also changes the nerves that control it, according to new research which could guide more targeted and effective care for common heart problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, led by the University of Bristol (UK), shows for the first time that moderate aerobic training reshapes nerves that drive the heart, and affects them on each side of the heart differently. The research is published in the journal\u00a0Autonomic Neuroscience<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Findings highlighting this marked left-right split could ultimately be used to treat more effectively a range of conditions, including irregular heartbeats, chest pain, angina pain, and \u2018broken-heart\u2019 syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study lead author Dr Augusto Coppi<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Bristol, said: \u201cThe discovery points to a previously hidden left\u2013right pattern in the body\u2019s \u2018autopilot\u2019 system that helps run the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese nerve clusters act like the heart\u2019s dimmer switch and we\u2019ve shown that regular, moderate exercise remodels that switch in a side-specific way. This could help explain why some treatments work better on one side than the other and, in future, help doctors target therapies more precisely and effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research, in collaboration with the University College London (UCL) in the UK and the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) and Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil, used advanced 3D quantitative imaging analysis methods called stereology. Findings showed that trained rats over a 10-week period had around four times more nerves \u2013 called neurons \u2013 in the cardiovascular cluster on the right-hand side of the body than the left compared to untrained rats. Conversely, the neurons on the left nearly doubled in size while those on the right slightly shrunk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Coppi explained: \u201cIrregular heart rhythms, known as arrhythmias, stress-induced \u2018broken\u2011heart\u2019 syndrome, and certain types of chest pain are often treated by dialling down overactive stellate ganglia \u2013 the paired small nerve hubs in the lower neck\/upper chest area that send \u2018go faster\u2019 signals to the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy mapping how exercise changes these ganglia on each side, the study offers clues that could one day fine\u2011tune procedures like nerve blocks or denervation to the side most likely to help. The findings are early-stage and in rats, so clinical studies would need to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers are now planning studies to link these structural changes to how the heart actually behaves at rest and during exercise. They will then look for the same left\u2013right pattern in other animal models and in people using non\u2011invasive markers. This will help ascertain whether targeting one side of the nerve cluster could make treatments such as stellate nerve blocks or denervation more effective for arrhythmias, stress\u2011induced \u2018broken\u2011heart\u2019 syndrome, and difficult\u2011to\u2011treat angina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Coppi added: \u201cUnderstanding these left-right differences could help us personalise treatments for heart rhythm disorders and angina. Our next step is to test how these structural changes map onto function and whether similar patterns appear in larger animals and humans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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