The latter is particularly useful if you’re trying to exercise after being inactive. It is a common mistake to think that you have to solve much to make it beneficial, when in reality it all really depends on your goals. Yes if you want run ultramarathons, You’re going to have to put in the miles. But if keeping your brain healthy is a great motivator to get moving, new research on the neuroprotective effects of exercise indicates that even small amounts of physical activity can help protect against cognitive decline.
The findings of the study are German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases where researchers examined the brain volumes of 2,550 people ages 30 to 94 and determined that certain areas of the brain, including the hippocampus (also known as the memory control center), were larger in those who exercised. “Larger brain volumes provide better protection against neurodegeneration than smaller ones,” said Fabienne Fox, PhD, neuroscientist and lead author of the current study. daily science.
The researchers found the largest increase in brain volume among inactive and moderately active people, meaning doing some physical activity versus none could have significant neuroprotective effects. Those benefits aren’t as pronounced in people who are already fairly active and just increase the amount of exercise, meaning if you’re already active, more movement won’t necessarily do much to move the needle.
“We understand this intuitively,” he says. barry gordon, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and director of the Division of Cognitive Neurology/Neuropsychology at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “If someone who runs across Central Park several times a day adds one more run to Central Park, he won’t get the same incremental benefits as someone who starts out without moving and then walks across Central Park.”
Not that they need to go that far to see brain gains. “The results of our study indicate that even small behavioral changes, such as walking 15 minutes a day, can have a substantial positive effect on the brain and potentially counteract age-related loss of brain matter and the development of neurodegenerative diseases,” said Dr. Fox. daily science. Here, indicate is the key word.
What scientists understand about exercise and brain health—and what they don’t
When I spoke with Dr. Gordon about the study results, he emphasized that it’s important for people to understand the difference between correlation and causation. So, for example, with this study, they determined that there was a relationship between larger brain volumes and people who exercise, but they didn’t prove that exercise alone is what makes people’s brains bigger.
Generally speaking, scientists understand that it is plausible that exercise protects the brain from neurodegeneration, but they have no evidence or clear understanding of Whatexactly, it works. “The relationship between sedentary lifestyle and neurodegeneration remains unclear,” says Arjun V MasurkarMD, PhD, central clinical director of the NYU Langone Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
This is due, at least in part, to the fact that testing the neuroprotective effects of exercise would take decades, according to Dr. Gordon. “Because that’s how long it takes for neurodegeneration to have its effects,” he says (which is why he recommends taking steps to improve brain health in your 30s and 40s, long before you start to see signs of it in your mid-30s). 60s and 40s). later). “And people don’t want to undergo the kind of studies that would be necessary to find evidence, nor are most of those studies very practical.”
However, these new findings help further affirm what neuroscientists already believe: “Research suggests that exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, is directly healthy for the brain by improving blood flow to the brain and stimulating biochemical pathways that maintain functional and structural integrity. neurons,” says Dr. Masurkar. “It has been shown that regular exercise can maintain or even increase brain size. While exactly how this occurs is not known, some research suggests that aerobic exercise may initiate the release of growth factors that could potentially increase brain volume.”
A helpful way to think of it, according to Dr. Gordon, is that exercise is like SPF for the brain. “We all know that as skin ages, it shows signs of aging,” he says. “But the sun is also known to cause additional damage. So you look at someone who is older and has been in the sun a long time without sunscreen; they have more damage than someone who had the same genetic background, the same age, but stayed out. sun religiously, or put on, you know, 400 layers of SPF.”
The same can potentially be said for someone who is older and has been regularly physically active compared to someone who has not when it comes to cognitive decline. “You can think of Alzheimer’s disease, for example, as a combination of aging changes that you currently can’t control, as well as damage changes that you might be able to control,” says Dr. Gordon.
Easy Movement Swaps to Start Doing Now for Better Brain Function Later
At this point, there is a strong enough correlation between brain health and exercise, and a large enough body of research to back it up, that neurologists recommend being physically active as a way to protect your brain from neurodegeneration . And, probably more convincingly, Dr. Gordon says that he does aerobic exercise three times a week for precisely this reason.
But if you don’t have time in your schedule to exercise, here he and Dr. Masurkar share some simple ways to get more movement into your daily life in the name of better brain health. “Because people are so busy and averse to exercise, one easy way is to make an existing everyday task more active,” says Dr. Masurkar. To that end, here are easy tweaks to start making today.
exchange 1
Ride a bike instead of taking the bus or driving to run a local errand.
swap 2
Get up for a short walk break every 30 minutes while sitting in front of your computer.
swap 3
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
swap 4
Park further away from spots instead of looking for the closest spot so you have a little more time to walk.
swap 5
Take long phone calls while walking or riding a stationary bike instead of sitting at your desk.
