Fit Body, Fit Brain

University of California, Irvine and Japan’s University of Tsukuba recently combined efforts to study whether lower-intensity exercise would be enough to stimulate parts of the brain involved with memory, as well as determine whether physical activity improves cognitive functioning in general.

In the study, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity in 36 healthy young adults both before and after just a single 10-minute round of light exercise. What they found is a definite improvement in the brain’s hippocampus connectivity after just that short, easy workout. “The hippocampus is critical for the creation of new memories; it’s one of the first regions of the brain to deteriorate as we get older, and this decline happens much more severely in Alzheimer’s disease,” says Michael A. Yassa, PhD, director of UCI’s “Brain Initiative.”

While the investigators say that more research is needed to determine how the hippocampus underwent such a rapid modification after the mild exercise, in the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt your brain to go for a walk. “Even short walking breaks throughout the day may have considerable effects on improving memory and cognition,” says Yassa.

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