The beneficial efects of exercise on your brain are physiological and psychological. But let’s start with the basics: blood flow. “There is recent evidence that people who get more physical activity get more blood flow to the brain,”. That’s important because in older adults, reduced blood flow to the brain may be a risk factor for cognitive decline.
You may work out regularly because it makes you look good, but the benefits are greater than that. “I had a mentor who used to say that if we had a pill that did what exercise did, it would be the most prescribed medicine in the world”
Use It or Lose It
“When you exercise, it challenges the brain,”. Brain cells respond to the challenge by enhancing their ability to cope with stress. “There is good evidence in animals, and some in humans, that exercise actually improves cognition,”. This is because when you exercise, it stimulates your brain to produce a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
BDNF has been the focus of a flurry of recent research activity. “We know that BDNF can enhance cognition,”. “In animals, if we disrupt the ability to produce BDNF, it causes learning and memory problems.” It’s unclear how quickly it’s produced — for example, if just one bout of exercise produces it. That question continues to be studied.
One of Mattson’s colleagues, Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., recently discovered that exercise can stimulate the production of new nerve cells from stem cells in the brain. When the stem cells get the right signal — like exercise — some start forming more neurons, and these new neurons can connect with existing neurons. The more neurons you have and the more connections you have among them, the stronger you’ll be in learning and memory.
Exercise and Anxiety
Anecdotally, we know that exercise makes us feel better, lightens our mood and reduces anxiety. Mattson coached his kids in cross-country, he says, and it was always obvious their moods were better during the season than ofseason. But it’s more than that because it turns out that BDNF is also involved in mood regulation. In fact, the most commonly described antidepressants all increase BDNF levels in the brain. So there is a connection between exercise, BDNF and improved mood.
It turns out that exercise also may be an efective form of treating anxiety. Preliminary evidence suggests that the physiological symptoms you experience when you exercise can act as a form of “exposure” to the symptoms people with panic disorder experience (such as a heart-rate increase). “When you expose someone to the symptoms, you teach them how to have better control,” he says.
There’s a lot more to learn, but it’s already clear that exercise forges a mind/body connection unlike anything else at our disposal.
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