Exercise Helps Your Brain and Body

Over the past decade, the list of ills you can prevent and improve with exercise has grown substantially. You can add your brain to the list.

Start an exercise regime and, over time, you might notice your muscles are firmer or you get less tired when you must stand a long time. There’s also evidence your workouts might be changing a part of your body you didn’t expect — your brain. The result could be a happier mood, a better memory and attention span, and improved coordination.

Over the past decade, the list of ills you can prevent and improve with exercise has grown substantially. Being physically active reduces your risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and certain cancers, while helping to build healthy bones and joints, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Your brain is no different from the rest of your muscles; you have to use it, or you lose it.

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Exercise also may keep your brain sharp. In a review of 39 randomized controlled trials, researchers concluded that 45-to-60-minute sessions of moderate intensity improved cognitive function in people aged 50 and up.

Your mental health may benefit as well. The National Institute for Mental Health recommends regular exercise to boost mood. Strength training helps calm anxiety, too.

In an interesting study with twins, a research team from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland  concluded that regular exercise can change the size of your brain in a beneficial way.

The researchers looked at sets of identical male twins in their 30s — except that only one twin exercised regularly, while his sibling was sedentary. Tests showed the non-exercising twins had a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease than their fit brothers, which was not unexpected.

MRIs of the twins’ brains revealed a surprise. Although the siblings’ brains were expected to be virtually identical in size, the twins who exercised had significantly larger volumes of striatal and prefrontal cortex grey matter — areas of the brain involved with motor control and coordination — compared to their inactive co-twins. The study concludes that this fitness-triggered brain change could result in more physical coordination and less risk of falling in years to come.

Encouraging children to get up off the couch and participate in sports may benefit their brains long-term, too. A University of Illinois study of 9- and 10-year-olds used MRIs to analyze white matter tracts in the brains of 24 youngsters.  

White matter tracts are known to play a role in attention and memory. They transport nerve signals across brain regions; the more compact white matter is the more efficient and faster nerve signals flow.

The researchers found that kids who were aerobically fit had more fibrous, compact white matter tracts in their brains than less fit youngsters. The findings add to the evidence that aerobic exercise changes the brain in ways that improve thinking ability, according to researcher Laura Chaddock-Heyman, PhD.

"Previous studies in our lab have reported a relationship between fitness and white matter integrity in older adults," psychologist Arthur Kramer said. "Therefore, it appears that fitness may have beneficial effects on white matter throughout the lifespan."

Several studies have shown that staying physically active may delay or possibly prevent dementia in old age. Regular exercise can help aging adults improve their memory and brain health.

"Science has shown that aging decreases mental efficiency, and memory decline is the number one cognitive complaint of older adults," said Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, director of the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas in Dallas. “This research shows the tremendous benefit of aerobic exercise on a person's memory and demonstrates that aerobic exercise can reduce both the biological and cognitive consequences of aging."  

In one University of Texas study, “couch potato,” non-exercising adults ages 57 to 75 were divided into two groups. One exercised on treadmills or with bikes three times a week for 3 months while another group didn’t exercise regularly. Participants also took thinking and memory tests before, during, and after the training period. Blood flow to their brains was measured, too.

Many of the research subjects who worked out showed improved memory performance. They also had increased blood flow to the hippocampus, the primary brain region affected by Alzheimer's diease. These results could provide a clue as to how exercise can delay or prevent dementia.

"Physical exercise may be one of the most beneficial and cost-effective therapies widely available to everyone to elevate memory performance. These findings should motivate adults of all ages to start exercising aerobically,” said Chapman. “To think we can alter and improve the basic structure of the mature brain through aerobic exercise and complex thinking should inspire us to challenge our thinking and get moving at any age."

Despite the good news and multiple benefits of exercise, the CDC reports Americans are more sedentary than ever. More than three quarters of U.S. adults don’t get the recommended amount of aerobic and muscle-building activity, and some 15 percent never exercise. If you are ready to get your body — and brain — in better shape, talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise regime. Then check out these exercise suggestions and guidelines to help you get active.

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