Daily Exercise Can Improve Our Cognitive Function

There are plenty of dangers for every modern person’s health linked to sedentary lifestyle and a lack of physical activities. It is possible to find plenty of studies and scientific researches that have shown and analyzed numerous health benefits of exercising on a daily basis. Getting involved in plenty of physical activities and  daily exercise is linked to faster metabolism and reduced risks of having excessive body mass, which in turn assist in lowering the risks of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and many other serious health conditions. Besides, according to the experts at Mayo Clinic, regular daily exercise can help us change our mood for better and reduce the risk of depression, boost energy, have positive influence on our sexual life, promote sleep and avoid a variety of various minor disorders. In other words, exercising is a perfect approach to improving our overall health and living a healthier and happier life.

According to the findings of the newest study presented a few days ago at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, one more important advantage should be added to the list of benefits of exercising. It looks like being involved in daily physical activities can also play a role in boosting our cognitive function, improving out brain function and making us smarter. These are the conclusions received by an expert group of the Montreal Heart Institute, led by Martin Juneau, M.D., who reported about the findings. A series experiments conducted by the expert group helped to find scientific evidence of the fact that exercise can be a powerful tool to boosting our memory function and making recalling information more effective, developing our decision making skills, mastering the skills of quick thinking, and training other kinds of cognitive functions.

For the experiments, the scientists invited a group of overweight people aged 49 on average who mostly lead sedentary lifestyle. The participants were asked to get involved in IIT (intense interval training) twice a week. Exercise mostly included circuit weight training and some exercise bike workouts. In four months of such training routine, Dr. Juneau and his colleagues measured cognitive functions of the participants by using special neuropsychological testing techniques. As the tests have demonstrated, all the participants had increased cognitive function regardless of previous health condition and mental abilities of theirs. According to the study authors, the proposed technique of daily exercise or regular exercise can be used effectively to slow down a common decline in cognitive function which usually accompanies aging and is one of the signs of aging.

The scientists explained the effects they managed to discover by increased blood flow to brain, assisting in toning and stimulating brain function. At that, the scientists could see obvious benefits of exercising even in such a short period of time. In particular, all the participants demonstrated some drop in body mass, fat mass and waist circumference. Due to that, most of the participants reported about feeling much sharper and more confident. Cardiac output and body composition of the participants were all improved, too. Besides, all the participants have enjoyed much better endurance during their exercise routine, and the scientists got interested in these positive effects of exercising. As it was found out after additional research, the capacity to exercise of the participants was estimated to have in average 15 per cent.

Finally, the researchers noticed the links between exercising and cognitive abilities similar to the ones between exercise and weight loss. In other words, the more we exercise, the more cognitive function increase we enjoy. Dr. Martin Juneau underlined that the discovered benefits of regular exercise is totally unique: we can use a pill to manage our high pressure or increased cholesterol levels, but we can not use a medicine to improve our cognitive function. Other experts also give very high value to the findings of Dr. Juneau’s expert group. “There are many benefits of exercising – we know it can make us feel better. This suggests it can make us ‘think better’ as well,” Dr. Beth Abramson, an official from Heart and Stroke Foundation commented on the findings. Dr. Abramson said that there is not need in lasting workouts or hours of cardiovascular exercise, and effective daily exercise may not last longer than 2-3 chinks of 10-minute physical activities, from moderate to very active.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

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