We’ve all heard of the wonderful health benefits that fitness and exercise are able to provide, but a new study from Australia reveals its significant positive influence on the brain.
Researchers from Australia’s National Institute of Complementary Medicine in Western Sydney University have found a correlation between aerobic exercise and brain health. This would naturally improve memory function and maintain the health of our minds even as it decreases with older age.
The average brain shrinks in size, vasculature and cognition as we reach our 40s. While some face it in drastic ways, most of us go through these changes at a natural pace. That’s why a healthy diet and regular exercise is essential even before we start noticing these changes.
In this study conducted on clinical trials, 737 participants were scanned before and after breaking a sweat in a controlled aerobic exercise setting. The ages ranging from 24 to 76 year olds and from healthy adults to individuals with mild to severe cognitive impairments. Fitness activities included walking, treadmill running and even indoor bicycling.
In the end, changes were not as noticed in the physical change to the volume of the hippocampus, but more so in the slowing brain deterioration overall. We can think of exercise as a type of slow motion button, keeping the mind still, in time.
The future of medical research is looking bright. Nobel week in Stockholm proved to showcase this year’s discoveries with a positive outlook on what’s to come from passionate scientists like Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Miachel Young. They took the stage in Aula Medica to share their inspiring lectures with the crowd after winning this year’s Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine.
Arnold goes on by describing how she feels on a day to day, “If you ask Barb how she’s feeling, she will answer, I feel fine. I just tire easily. I have tremors in both hands and forget things and have to jot down a quick reminder.”
