Figure 3. Experiment 3 indicated no effect of 8 weeks of resistance training on a vertical ladder on adult hippocampal neurogenesis in male Sprague–Dawley rats .

Abbreviations: BrdU, bromodeoxyuridine; End, endurance training; Res, resistance training; other abbreviations are as in the legend to Fig. 1. A, outline of the experiment. B, strength increased in all rats subjected to resistance training. Asterisks refer to a significant difference (***P < 0.001). Vertical lines depict the SEM. C, the proliferation of cells in the hippocampus was similar in the resistance training and sedentary groups. Black arrows mark the locations of clusters of Ki67‐positive cells (×400 magnification) illustrated in the insets (×1000 magnification). The background stain (Cresyl Violet) shows cell bodies of mature neurons in light blue. The hilus and the granule cell layer are indicated in the top panel. The scale bar length is 50 μm, and it applies to all the ×400 photomicrographs. D, animals subjected to resistance training and those kept sedentary had a similar number of immature adult‐born new neurons in the hippocampus. Doublecortin‐positive cells in brown; mature neurons in light blue. E, the survival of adult‐born neurons in the hippocampus was also not affected by resistance training. Bromodeoxyuridine‐positive cells in brown; mature neurons in light blue.