Exercise Preserves Your Brain

Exercise may prevent brain shrinking by the production of Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor which strengthen brain cells and their connection to each other.

Many would agree that it’s important stay mentally active to maintain brain power as we age.  In today’s article, I would like to explore another method that does not only maintain or build brain power, but that also literally increases the number of neurons or brain cells we have and prevents the brain from shriveling up.  

This method is something we should all be doing already—it is regular physical exercise.

As we age, our brains can start to shrivel.  At about thirty years old onwards, a part of our brain called the hippocampus starts to shrink at the rate of about 1% per year.   The hippocampus is involved with short and long term memory plus our ability to have spatial memory and navigation.  The hippocampus is one of the first parts of the brain that shows damage in Alzheimer’s.

The old belief is that the brain has a specific number of brain cells it is born with.  These neurons may create

new connections or synapses with each other such as when we form new memory or new skills.  But when these brain cells die, they are gone forever.

However, in the last decade or so we have started to see evidence that the brain is actually capable of producing new brain cells in a process called neurogenesis.  

Scientists have been trying to discover new drugs to promote the formation of new brain cells.  However, the exciting thing is that in the course of their research, they have also discovered that regular physical exercise can create new brain cells.

One study involving 120 older men and women showed that those subjects who exercised  regularly by walking had larger hippocampi after the end of one year.  Those who did not walk but did stretching showed that their hippocampi got smaller as expected with normal aging. 

Importantly, those who walked regularly and had larger hippocampi also did better in mental tests.  Another study where subjects did weight lifting showed similar improvements with cognitive ability, but most of the studies that show benefit involved mostly aerobic types of exercise.

We still do not know how exactly physical exercise can cause the brain to make new brain cells or how they can improve mental skills.  One thing researchers noticed is that people who exercise regularly have higher levels of Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor, which is a molecule that strengthens brain cells and their connections to each other.   Perhaps regular exercise improves the brain by just simply improving circulation.

It is important to note that some evidence shows that regular exercise is more beneficial than irregular or intermittent exercise.  One study divided subjects into three groups—those who exercised regularly for one month,  those who exercised regularly for one month plus the morning of a test, and those who did not exercise.

The results showed that those who exercised regularly did better on mental tests and mood scores than those who did not exercise.   However, those who exercised regularly plus the morning of the test performed even better than those who exercised regularly.   This means that the benefit of exercise is so strong that it can affect mental function on the day of exercise performance.

Bottomline, regular physical does not only improve physical health but seems to improve mental health as well.  The effect of exercise seems to go beyond just simply improving mental function, but rather, it may even have some effect on the production of new brain cells or at least slowing down the atrophy of our brains as we age.