People who often do this have younger brains! Check if you have done this

Exercise is one of the most effective ways to reverse the aging of the brain. We all know that exercise has subtle benefits on the whole body, but what effect does exercise have on the brain?

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In fact, exercise makes us smarter and sharper, and can protect cognitive function as we age. Today we're going to talk about 6 benefits of exercise for your brain.

1. Exercise can maximize blood flow to the brain

Compared with people who do not exercise, people who exercise have much greater blood flow to their brains, so they suffer less damage.

Adequate blood flow helps the brain function faster and more efficiently, slowing cognitive decline. Many people may find it difficult to understand why blood flow to the brain is so important to cognitive function and why exercise is the golden key to increasing blood flow to the brain.

Consider this: the human brain has about 400 miles (about 643 kilometers) of blood vessels, all woven together in a space of just 1,200 cubic centimeters. So for blood to flow deep into the brain's network of blood vessels, the heart must be strong and the arteries and veins must be unobstructed for blood to flow through.

Therefore, the best way to improve cardiovascular health is to exercise, train the heart, and train blood vessels into smooth, wide, and fast "highways."

Studies show that the blood vessels of older people who exercise regularly are no different from those of people half their age - they are younger and healthier.

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You don't need to run a marathon to increase blood flow to your brain. Studies have found that older women who walk for 30 to 50 minutes a few times a week can increase brain blood flow by up to 15% in three months.

Even just 10 days of inactivity can reduce blood flow to the brain by as much as 30%. The more blood you get to your brain, the more oxygen, sugars, and other nutrients it receives, improving your reactions, processing, thinking, memory, learning, and concentration.

Increasing blood flow to the brain also expands brain volume, strengthens synaptic connections, helps produce important proteins and hormones, removes toxins that can cause dementia, and generates new brain cells.

The best exercises to boost brain circulation:

Research shows that the most beneficial exercise is sustained aerobic activity that raises your heart rate for a period of time, such as running, cycling and swimming.

2. Exercise generates new brain cells

The fastest and most effective method

If you want to grow new neurons, improve your cognitive abilities and enrich your knowledge, you need to do specific aerobic exercise. Research shows that this is the most effective way to stimulate neurogenesis.

More and more studies have found that aerobic exercise can increase the number of new neurons in the hippocampus area of ​​the brain responsible for memory and learning by 2 or even 3 times.

Although we don’t fully understand why exercise has such a big impact, one thing is certain: physical activity stimulates the brain to produce brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that has been shown to regulate neurogenesis. Exercise also promotes the release of certain proteins in the blood in the brain, which form neurons in the hippocampus.

Best Exercises to Boost Neurogenesis:

Improving blood supply to the brain can be achieved by simply moving more, but stimulating neurogenesis is different. It requires sticking to a specific form of exercise, with running and other sustained aerobic activities being the first choice.

3. Exercise makes your brain bigger and smarter

Increasing blood supply to the brain and stimulating neurogenesis are far more beneficial than just exercising.

Regular exercise also helps enlarge the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning. The bigger the hippocampus, the better the brain is at retaining memories and learning new knowledge and skills. Enlarging the hippocampus may also protect the brain from mood disorders like depression and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease.

Like other areas of the brain, the hippocampus shrinks with age, which is why we often suffer from memory impairment and cognitive decline as we age.

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But studies have shown that exercise can prevent or even reverse age-related atrophy, and researchers believe that exercise is one of the few proven methods that can actually maintain the size and function of the hippocampus.

Physical activity also helps increase the gray matter in your brain. This type of neural tissue is responsible for the brain's overall ability to think, reason, and remember. The thicker and healthier the gray matter, the better it is at protecting against Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Everyday activities like housework and gardening can also increase gray matter, and studies show that people who are active outside of the gym have more gray matter in their brains than those who are less active.

In addition, physical activity also has a miraculous effect on white matter , which can increase the number of nerve fibers and strengthen the connection between nerve fibers, which occupy more than half of the space in the brain. Exercise can enhance the connectivity between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, thereby improving creativity, language ability, memory retrieval, attention and muscle coordination.

Best Exercises to Increase Brain Capacity and Become Smarter:

You guessed it, sustained aerobic exercise such as running and walking is also the best for increasing the size of the hippocampus and other gray matter. In recent years, a number of studies have shown that practicing yoga can increase the size of the hippocampus. In terms of brain connectivity, long-distance running is the best way to increase the number and variety of synapses in the brain.

4. Exercise

Helps us to “refresh” our emotions

If you can take a long walk at the end of a stressful day, or work up a sweat in the gym, you will understand how the right amount of exercise can relieve stress, soothe emotions, and make you feel that life is more beautiful.

Exercise triggers a series of physiological responses that affect the sympathetic nervous system. Although exercise can cause the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol, the cortisol produced by exercise mainly provides energy to the brain and does not impair cognitive function.

After exercise, the body produces more endorphins and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and norepinephrine, which help improve mood and reduce stress. Over time, once the body adapts to exercise, it can regulate cortisol more effectively.

Regarding exercise and stress, one study found something surprising: without exercise, neurons can even change shape and grow new branches, making people more prone to anxiety and stress.

Not only that, exercise can also relieve sadness, anxiety, boredom, dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and even depression.

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If you’ve ever felt a buzz after aerobic exercise, you understand the indescribable feeling that comes with exercise: a “runner’s high” that stimulates the brain to release endorphins as well as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, making you feel more satisfied, positive, and peaceful.

Exercise also increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a molecule responsible for stimulating neurogenesis, which can make people happier and more optimistic. Studies have shown that after just five minutes of exercise, people feel better about themselves.

Best exercises to calm your nerves:

First of all, any action that brings happiness is a good way to relieve stress. Any exercise that you like is the most effective in boosting your mood. Don't worry about what exercise your friends like to do, and don't force yourself to do an exercise that others strongly recommend but you can't enjoy. Forcing yourself to do something you don't like will only increase stress, which will negate the benefits of exercise.

In addition to finding an activity you enjoy, studies show that exercising in a group, whether it's a running club, yoga class, or dance class, can reduce stress more than going it alone.

5. Exercise not only helps you lose weight

It can also "stimulate" the brain

Most people now know that exercise can help you lose weight. Although the brain itself does not contain fat cells, excess fat from other parts of the body can have a profound effect on the brain.

Researchers now believe that harmful toxins released by fat cells can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, the boundary that separates cerebral blood vessels from brain tissue and cells. If there is too much fat in the body, a large amount of toxins may be produced.

Once the toxins from fat cells enter the brain, they invade the hippocampus and interfere with its function, causing synapses that control cognitive functions to malfunction and become dysfunctional. The result is impaired memory, slower learning, and a decline in overall cognitive ability.

Scientists have found that exercise can effectively reverse the damage caused by fat to the brain in mice and even restore normal hippocampal function. Animals that love to move perform better on cognitive tests than those that don't move much, even if they weigh the same. A study on humans also found that after two months of exercise, overweight and obese people had improved brain blood circulation and partially eliminated the toxic effects on the brain.

If you don't want to lose weight through exercise, your brain will still benefit a lot from it, but the benefits will be far less than if you combine it with exercise. A published study also pointed out that thin people who don't like to move are not as good at cognitive ability as fat people who are strong.

Losing weight is the best exercise to improve brain health:

A recent study of more than 18,000 people found that those who jogged regularly experienced the greatest and most sustained weight loss.

When running, all parts of the body are involved, the heart rate is always kept in the fat burning zone, and running is very easy to get started. You don't need a gym, fitness equipment, or a fitness partner. You only need a pair of running shoes and you can run anytime, anywhere.

According to research, short bursts of high-intensity exercise such as sprinting can help accelerate fat burning. Studies have shown that the same exercise, such as running, cycling, swimming, walking, etc., when done at a slower pace and for a longer duration, burns far less calories than fast-paced acceleration, that is, high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

6. Exercise to have a good dream at night

Study after study shows that exercise helps you fall asleep faster and wake up less easily once you're asleep, so you can wake up feeling more refreshed and rejuvenated the next morning.

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Just 10 minutes of exercise a day can improve the quantity and quality of your sleep. Exercise can also help reduce your risk of various disorders, such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless legs syndrome.

Best exercises to improve sleep:

According to the National Sleep Foundation, almost any type of exercise can improve both the quality and quantity of your sleep, although most studies have focused on aerobic exercise, which includes walking, running, and cycling.

Warning: Don’t exercise too fast or too hard at the beginning. Studies have shown that if you are out of breath or speechless at the beginning of exercise due to the fast pace and high intensity, the mood-boosting effect of exercise will be delayed by about 30 minutes.

Planning and production

Source: Book "A Guide to Anti-Aging Brain", Science and Technology Press of China

Planning丨Yinuo

Editor: Yinuo

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin

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