[ad_1]
Physical training seems to be used exclusively to strengthen the muscles of the arms, abdomen or legs, but some organs, such as the brain, must also be exercised to maintain or improve mental health, an aspect that becomes more and more important each day. d & # 39; try
In a recent study, neurologists from the University of Health and Sciences of Oregon (USA) discovered that physical exercise improves brain function, such as the ability to 39, learning and memory. As reported by the portal of the University, Scientists measured brain response in sedentary mice that ran for short periods on wheels and a few kilometers in two hours.
They observed that these exercise intervals (equivalent in men to a weekly basketball game or to 4,000 daily steps) improved the work of a gene helping to establish connections between the neurons of the hippocampus, brain region badociated with memory formation
This study, published in eLife, concluded that the Mtss1L gene is activated by short exercises and promotes the formation of small growths in neurons called dendritic spines, where the synapse occurs. He concluded that an intensive exercise program was enough to prepare the brain for learning.
This research is combined with other studies that have already shown that physical exercise It improves the ability to concentrate, increases cognitive flexibility, improves long-term memory, reduces stress, reduces anxiety and slows brain aging.
Mental exercises
In addition to physical activity, other brain allies are mental exercises like what to do Sudoku, form visual memory, review daily tasks, create mind maps, and modify laterality (perform tasks with the opposite hand to the usual one). Activities that keep the brain in shape and can be done at home.
According to Rodrigo Córdoba, head of the department of psychiatry at the Universidad del Rosario, "When people can do the exercises, understand them and put them into practice, they generate behaviors that contribute to mental health."
In addition to these simple craft routines, a new trend to good mental health is "neurofitness". The neurologist Gustavo Castro explains that this training program "is not a specialty of neurology, but that it is methods that can be used to treat the deficit of attention. , memory problems or sleep disorders ".
Other type of gym
In this technique, the first step is to perform brain mapping and brain pattern badysis of electrical activity of the brain. This data is collected by machines that record and badyze its operation.
This information generates thermal maps and identifies the areas to be treated. Some of the exercises are the realization of mathematical games, in which the answers are followed in real time; anti-stress activities, or the use of glbades that generate pulsations of light of different intensities and hearing aids that emit relaxing sounds, such as the waves of the sea.
During the sessions, a complete follow-up is carried out in which, according to the progress, the difficulty of the exercises increases or decreases. According to Gabriel Roncallo, scientific director of the gym Hard Body, it is possible to work on two areas. The first concerns cognitive faculties, which deal with lack of attention, memory, ability to perform, concentration and learning; and the second is the emotional one, related to the symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress.
"The key is to do repetitions with mental exercises to improve the functional capacity of the brain," says Castro.
KAREN N. MARTÍNEZ SARMIENTO
School of Multimedia Journalism EL TIEMPO
Twitter: @KMARRRS
[ad_2]
Source link
