What's better for your brain: 15 minutes of jogging or 15 minutes of relaxation?
A new study compared cognitive boosts from running versus relaxing.
07 October, 2018
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- Researchers compared jogging versus relaxing for 15 minutes.
- Jogging provided clear cognitive and mood benefits.
- The relaxing group had much less energy.
<br></li></ul><p>If you wanted a quick boost for your mind, what's the best activity to engage in? Scientists looked at whether a brief relaxation or a jog would boost your cognition and have a definitive winner. Lace up your sneakers!</p><p>There's already been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278262612001224" target="_blank">evidence</a> that brief aerobic exercise that's not too intense like a jog or a walk can provide an instant boost to how your mind functions. Its speed and attentional control, as well as your mood will be beneficially affected. Now a new study involving 101 undergraduate students found that emotional effects of exercise bring specific cognitive benefits.</p><p>The participants had to rate their levels of energy and vigorousness and complete two cognitive tests. These were based on the <a href="http://apps.usd.edu/coglab/schieber/psyc423/pdf/IowaTrailMaking.pdf" target="_blank">Trail Making Test,</a> where the subject has to draw lines between letters and numbers as quickly and precisely as they can to measure <strong>mental speed and attentional control.</strong> </p><p>After the testing, one portion of the students was made to go on 15-minute jogs while others did group relaxation exercises. Two minutes following these sessions, the students answered the same questions and completed the cognitive tests as before, indicating their energy levels.</p><p>The jogging students exhibited great improvement on the cognitive tests, while feeling increases in vigor. The researchers think this shows that the jog helped cognition by affecting the subjective sense of having more energy. On the other hand, the group that was just relaxing was much less energetic. </p><p>The study was authored by <strong>Fabian Legrand</strong> from the <a href="http://www.univ-reims.eu/" target="_blank">University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne </a>in France and his colleagues <strong>Isabella Morrone</strong> from the University Hospital of Reims, <strong>Anne Canivet </strong>form the University of Poitiers, <strong>Cedric Albinet</strong> from the University of Toulouse as well as <strong>Fabien Gierski </strong>and <strong>Chrystel Besche-Richard</strong> also from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne.</p><p>Legrand thinks more research needs to be done to follow up on these conclusions but <a href="https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/10/04/a-brief-jog-sharpens-the-mind-boosting-attentional-control-and-perceptual-speed-now-researchers-are-figuring-out-why/" target="_blank">says</a> they already "add weight to recent suggestions that increased feelings of energy may mediate the relationship between aerobic exercise and some aspects of cognitive functioning." In layman's terms - running is good for your brain.</p><p> Read the new paper in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691817301336?dgcid=raven_sd_via_email" target="_blank"><em>Acta Psychologica</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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The Sport for Smart People? Running.
A new study says running enhances connectivity in areas of the brain associated wth high-level thinking.
16 December, 2016
(DAVID SCHAP)
<p class="p1">Running seems mindless enough: you lace up, stretch, warm up and go (or so I’ve heard, ahem). Some people look to it as a workout that gives you time to think, away from distractions. Others just love running. And, of course, many runners run with the intention of exercising their bodies. A new study, though, suggests that this seemingly simple activity may also exercise the brain in surprising ways. </p> <p class="p1">A <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00610/full" target="_blank"><span class="s1">just-published </span></a>study by researchers at the University of Arizona in <em>Frontiers in Human Neuroscience</em> reveals that runners appear to have an exceptionally high amount of connectivity between areas of the brain associated with higher-level thinking, including those dealing with multitasking and concentration. They also showed less connectivity, or “anti-correlation” — in the brain’s areas associated with daydreaming and unfocused thought.</p> <p class="p1">The study is based on MRI brain scans of 22 college-aged men, half of whom were competitive runners, and half of whom reported that they hadn’t exercised in the last year. (All of the subjects were male in order to avoid the difficulty of controlling for menstrual-cycle effects.) The subjects were scanned in an at-rest state, so the researchers didn’t track brain activity <em>during</em> running, but rather the lasting effects of the exercise — you can’t run in an MRI machine, of course.</p> <p class="p1"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwOTI0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTg1NTk5MH0.i6hNU1qn_yGIlNhoAZ5r19pKBPs7mTRJwpqou5Hatsc/img.jpg?width=980" id="17f2a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="66d5ce90f1d4ee6456779a24a750b32d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <div class="image-caption">Average brain area connections (orange) and anti-correlations (blue)</div> <p class="p1">The study proposes the higher connectivity may have to do with the fact that “movement, especially at high speeds, taxes not only motor control, but can also engage executive functions, spatial navigation, and memory abilities.”</p> <p class="p1">Running in the real world is, after all, a never-ending three-dimensional puzzle of constantly moving parts: muscle and other body sensations, changes in the running surface and weather, unexpected obstacles and events, and so on. One of the study’s authors, <a href="http://embi.arizona.edu/people/gene-e-alexander-phd" target="_blank">Gene E. Alexander</a>, a professor of psychology, neurology and physical sciences, spoke about the array of mental skills running engages to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/well/move/running-as-the-thinking-persons-sport.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=5" target="_blank"><span class="s1"><em>New York Times</em></span></a>, “It requires complex navigational skills plus an ability to plan, monitor and respond to the environment, juggle memories of past runs and current conditions, and also continue with all of the sequential motor activities of running, which are, themselves, very complicated.”</p> <p class="p1"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwOTI0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTA2NTM1MH0.V6HDuhFpN9HYgKcwgjb7XBT8HgzjUBAUNBtM8NBCM2s/img.jpg?width=980" id="a8ae9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c2a7fc2aaf8722ff951a48e1a1b316f9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <div class="image-caption">(<a href="https://stocksnap.io/author/17828"><span class="s3">CHANNAN GREENBLATT</span></a>)</div> <p class="p1">The researchers didn’t draw any conclusions about whether running makes anyone <em>smarter</em> — the scope of their investigation was limited to brain-area connectivity. There’s also some debate in the scientific community about the degree to which conclusions about brain activity <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00610/full#B17" target="_blank"><span class="s1">can be drawn from at-rest scans</span></a>. At the same time, the study notes that other recent research has shown that young-adult athletes do, actually, perform better on tests of executive function and processing speed tests.</p> <p class="p1">The researchers’ final conclusion is that the enhanced neuroplasticity they saw in younger athletes may have implications for older adults, and “should be investigated in relation to brain aging and the potential to reduce vulnerability to cognitive aging and the risk for neurodegenerative disease,” especially since there’s already evidence that supports the idea of exercise as a tool for supporting and prolonging mental acuity in the elderly.</p> <p class="p1">While the brain-training effects of other endurance sports like swimming and cycling have yet to be studied — likewise the effect of running on older adults’ brains — the possibilities are clearly intriguing. Want to improve your mind? Lace up, warm up, and go.</p>
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What Happens to Your Brain When You Stop Exercising?
A new study shows that cerebral blood flow within the left and right hippocampus significantly decreases after just 10 days of without exercise.
02 October, 2016
Runners make their way through a Brooklyn neighborhood during the New York City Marathon November 6, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
One persistent question has echoed for decades in regards to exercise: how much? Current government guidelines suggest either 150 minutes of moderate aerobic intensity or 75 minutes of high aerobic intensity every week. It is also suggested that these minutes are spread out through the week. One two-and-a-half hour jog on Sunday is not optimal if you’re not getting your heart rate up at all over the following six days.
<p>Consistency is key when discussing cardiovascular exercise. While <a href="http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/is-running-long-distances-healthy" target="_blank">one study</a> I wrote about last week shows that benefits increase as you run more, a <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2016.00184/full" target="_blank">new study</a> published in <em>Frontiers</em> verifies that when it comes to heart (and more importantly, brain) health, stick to a regular regimen.</p> <p>The runner’s high is probably the most well-known flow state given its ubiquity in fitness terminology. Running was once an environmental necessity; today it has become a routine to combat sedentary habits. Still, many of us love doing it for the sake of it; the benefits are almost secondary to the time spent on the trail.</p> <p>For this study, researchers asked a dozen master athletes, each between the ages of 50 and 80, to attempt the improbable: don’t move much at all for ten days. These are runners that have spent at least 15 years training for at least four hours every week at high intensity paces. Stillness is not in their vocabulary, but in the name of science, they conceded.</p> <p>While ten days of rest were probably challenging for these athletes, three did not make the cut. One displayed irregular EEG activity during testing; another’s dental work distorted testing signals; a third failed to achieve V02 max—interesting, as the entire group was collectively above the 90<sup>th</sup> percentile for their age.</p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwODM2My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzE4OTY5Mn0.JqYOaVjvc4v48iG-Yqcxsq3srEYV2uD4Y_QZzBn1uF4/img.jpg?width=980" id="c4b36" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54b8b7a70f4f78e2fb308893d83735e2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>Admittedly, nine is not a large sample size. But the results are still telling.</p> <p>It is well known that exercise benefits the brain in large part due to increased blood flow. Since blood carries oxygen to the brain, the more circulation, the better all systems run. As Gretchen Reynolds <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/well/move/after-just-10-days-of-rest-brain-benefits-of-exercise-diminish.html?_r=0" target="_blank">writes</a> in the <em>NY Times:</em></p> <blockquote><p>Exercise is particularly important for brain health because it appears to ramp up blood flow through the skull not only during the actual activity, but throughout the rest of the day. In past neurological studies, when sedentary people began an exercise program, they soon developed augmented blood flow to their brains, even when they were resting and not running or otherwise moving.</p></blockquote> <p>Resting for just ten days proved to slow regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in eight different brain regions:</p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwODM2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzc2MTU4N30.vahpkYxWJjbHgy_Vq8yfsiYFaAKoaJLSxlL3yyOI9uM/img.jpg?width=980" id="ee978" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="84ecab782d8738e563b903540ac9a778" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>Most notably, blood flow slowed to both the left and right hippocampus, a region necessary for memory formation, storage, and retrieval:</p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM5NjI3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzAyOTI5Nn0.gxITZ3YL_B8l_5sThJq4ZIBhDnwn1fe4L9y6RMvV52E/img.jpg?width=980" id="9eca2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="58b850960f6b46d0dbaff34a0232f0b0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>Numerous studies over the decades have shown how important exercise is for the functional integrity of the hippocampus. More recent work has shown that seniors benefit greatly from regular cardiovascular exercise. Increased structural volume in the hippocampus translates as an improvement in episodic memory performance, the researchers write.</p> <p>The good news, as reported by the team in <em>Frontiers</em>, is that the cessation of exercise did not diminish cognitive function. But given the decrease in master athletes in only ten days, longer-term studies could reveal a different story. What if you stopped exercising for ten months? Ten years? We can speculate that cognitive functioning, especially as it relates to an ability to form and retrieve memories, would be negatively affected.</p> <p>As with most short-term studies with a low number of participants, the team admits more research needs to be done. And yet, even such a small sample has big connotations. If men that have run over 35 miles a week for at least 15 years display significant decrease in blood flow after just ten days, what does that tell us mere mortals? Pretty simple: keep on moving and don’t stop.</p> <p>--</p> <p>Derek Beres is working on his new book, <em>Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health</em> (Carrel/Skyhorse, Spring 2017). He is based in Los Angeles. Stay in touch on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p>
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