Exercise Your Mind!
Written by Carlos Rendon
Edited by Kelly Chau
Jan 18, 2021
Edited by Kelly Chau
Jan 18, 2021
Exercise--some people love it; others hate it. Without a doubt, it is an important part of leading a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Regular exercise can help with weight loss, maintaining strong bones and muscles, and decreasing the risk of chronic illnesses. Capable of improving your mood, regular exercise also promotes a positive mental well-being. As one grows older, and the body begins to age, so does the mind as memory deteriorates over time. Just as exercise can help maintain a healthier body for a longer time, would you believe that it could also improve your memory?
According to a study done by neuroscientists at the University of Geneva, exercise for as little as fifteen minutes can lead to improvements in memory. After exercising, particularly running or cycling, some people experience a “runner’s high,” which is associated with increased happiness and a decrease in stress and anxiety. Small molecules produced during exercise called endocannabinoids, which have a role in producing this “high,” also participate in memory function as they target the memory processing part of the brain.
Before you go and run a marathon though, you might want to ask what type of exercise benefits memory the most. To answer this question, the researchers conducted a memory test on a group of young men that consisted of clicking a button every time a dot changed to a star on the screen. After measuring their performance at various lengths and intensities of cycling, the researchers found that participants had the fastest memory performance after a period of intense exercise. During the study they also measured brain activation and discovered that faster performance in these memory exercises correlated with greater activation of the hippocampus, the area in the brain involved with memory processing. Despite finding moderate intensity exercise to be the most effective enhancer of memory in a previous study, the researchers only saw this improvement in associative memory specifically. Thus, the answer to which type of exercise is best for enhancing memory still remains up in the air.
As new studies are being conducted, the idea that exercise improves memory is a developing topic and a key focus of interest among researchers. Neuroscientists are curious to learn how exercise can help decrease early memory hiccups experienced by people as young as 25, which can indicate a development of Alzheimer’s later in life. Although it is unclear what form of exercise is the most effective in improving memory, we can all agree that no matter the type of exercise, it does not hurt to go out and practice some healthy habits.
Works Cited
Université de Genève. "Sport and memory go hand in hand." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23
September 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200923124616.htm>.