In this article, Dr. Williams shares the benefits of exercise on improved short-term cognitive function.
Article Links: Exercise can boost your memory — and a new study says the short-term cognitive benefits can last for 24 hours
Decades of research has found that exercise is helpful for overall health and fitness, doing everything from lowering your risk of heart disease to helping you sleep better. According to a new study, working out could also help boost your memory — and the results may stick around for up to a day after your sweat session.
The small study, published today in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, analyzed data from 76 people aged 50 to 83 who wore activity trackers for eight days and took cognitive tests daily. The researchers discovered that people who did more moderate to vigorous physical activity than usual on any given day ended up performing better in memory tests the next day.
Being active in general also seemed to help. People who spent less time than usual sitting and logged six hours more of sleep also had better scores on memory tests.
Why might exercise boost your brain?
It’s important to point out that this isn’t the first study to link exercise with better memory. Previous research has found that people performed better on memory tests in the hours after they exercised, but many studies haven’t pinned down how long those perks last.
Doctors say there are a few different things that could be behind the memory boost from exercise. “Exercise leads to increased blood flow and stimulation of neurotransmitters thought to contribute to improvements in cognitive function,” Bloomberg says. (Neurotransmitters help to move messages from one nerve cell to the next and help with memory and thinking.)
Exercise can also prompt the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus, which is an area of the brain that’s essential for memory and learning, Dr. Vernon Williams, sports neurologist and founding director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, tells Yahoo Life. “Exercise also promotes neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections and reorganize itself,” he says.
Exercise can even help lower inflammation in the brain, which is linked to cognitive decline, Williams says.
Read the full article here.
