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New research suggests that even light workouts can improve brain function. Indeed, modest yoga exercises or tai chi can help perform memory tasks such as memorizing the key.
In the study, researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the Japanese University of Tsukuba found that even very light workouts could increase connectivity between the parts of the brain responsible for memory formation and storage.
In a study of 36 healthy young adults, the researchers found that a single, light exercise period of 10 minutes could result in considerable cognitive benefits, confirmed by functional magnetic resonance imaging high resolution (fMRI).
Researchers used fMRI technology to examine participants' brains shortly after exercise sessions. In doing so, they observed better connectivity between the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and cortical areas related to detailed memory processing.
Their results appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The hippocampus is essential to creating new memories; It's one of the first areas of the brain to deteriorate as we get older – and much more seriously in Alzheimer's disease, "said project co-leader Dr. Michael Yassa, a professor at the University of Toronto. UCI. "Improving the function of the hippocampus is very promising for improving memory in daily settings."
Neuroscientists have found that the increased level of connectivity predicts the degree of improvement in recall. Yassa, director of the UCI's Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, said the new study broadens previous research into how exercise promotes the generation of new brain cells in memory regions .
Specifically, the new study demonstrates a more immediate impact: enhanced communication between brain parts focused on memory.
"We do not neglect the possibility that new cells are born, but it takes a little longer to unfold," he said. "What we observed is that these 10-minute exercise periods showed results immediately afterwards."
A little physical activity can go a long way, said Yassa.
"It's encouraging to see more people follow their exercise habits – for example, by monitoring the number of steps they take," he said. "Even short breaks during the day can have significant effects on improving memory and cognition."
Yassa and his colleagues at the UCI and Tsukuba University are extending this path of research by testing older people who are at higher risk for age-related mental impairment.
For this cohort, researchers are conducting long-term interventions to see if regular, light, daily exercise lasting several weeks or months can positively impact brain structure and function in these subjects.
"It is clear that understanding the prescription of exercises that works best in older people is extremely helpful so that we can make recommendations to avoid cognitive decline," he said.
Source: University of California, Irvine
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