Exercise has many benefits for our bodies, including our brains. So, can we replicate the positive effects of exercise to boost new neurons in the adult brain? Dr Tara Walker thinks so and has dedicated her research career to discovering how. Tara was one of the first researchers recruited to QBI when it opened in 2003. She swapped plant biotechnology for neurogenesis research, and it has taken her to Germany and back to QBI (eight years later) to run her own lab.  

 In this conversation, Tara explains:   

  The strongest way to generate new neurons in the adult brain 

• What mice have taught us about the benefits of running 
• Selenium as a potential stroke therapy 
• Her international collaboration related to Alzheimer’s disease 
• The advantages of being at an institute dedicated to the brain