Exercise helps our bodies run better and smoother. There are many benefits of exercise, and some of those benefits have to do with our brains. It has been said by many experts that exercise helps brain function.
So how does exercise do that? Well, let’s first look at the long term benefits of exercise when it comes to the brain, then we will look at the shorter termed benefits:
In the long term, exercise helps the brain by:
– increasing the blood and oxygen flow to the brain
– increasing growth factors that help create new nerve cells
– increasing chemicals in the brain that help cognition
This may sound a little technical, but basically it can be summed up by saying that exercise’s effects on the brain slow the aging process, and help people maintain cognitive abilities well into older age.
Those who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer from certain brain diseases than others, such as dementia, and other similar diseases.
It is also interesting to note that fitness training – or an increased level of exercise – may improve some mental processes even more than moderate activity. So, without over exercising which has negative effects, getting a good workout in can make you even sharper, and your brain clearer.
Elderly people that participate in daily, or regular, exercise find that they have less problems with forgetfulness, as well as better overall health.
So, don’t think that it is a bunch of bunk when you hear that exercise helps the brain function, because it is true. Over 40 years of research have been done on the subject, and almost every study indicates that increased physical exercise can have a positive influence on cognitive and brain functions in older people.
It is important to understand that there is a time and place for harder physical exercise. However, physical activity can, at certain points in a person’s lifetime, improve cognitive ability and decrease the likelihood of age-related neurological diseases, like Alzheimer’s.
This does not mean that exercise is a cure for such diseases, but increased blood flow, nerve cells, and particular chemicals certainly help slow the process. So while not a cure, there is a significant relationship between physical activity and later cognitive function and decreased occurrence of dementia. And the benefits may last several decades.
One study showed by the renowned neurologist Kramer said that”those who continued to work and retirees who exercised showed sustained levels of cerebral blood flow and superior performance on general measures of cognition as compared to the group of inactive retirees.”
Regular exercise can also help the brain to better focus, thus exercise is often a prescribed remedy for ADD, and other distraction and attention disorders. Exercise also increases one’s ability to do spatial learning tasks. Exercise helps with memory. Exercise also protects some from developing age-related diseases caused by increases in certain neurochemical levels. Exercise can cause you to produce chemicals that can offset or prevent certain pathological diseases.
While it is unclear what type of exercise is best for the brain, it is clear that exercise helps brains to function properly, and better, and is especially helpful for older people who may find the are starting to struggle with memory and other cognitive functions. So, again, while there is not yet evidence to show what types of exercise produce the most rapid and significant effects on thinking and the brain, or how long exercise effects last following the end of training, or how much exercise is needed to get continued benefits, it is clear that there are benefits. So get out there and exercise