There has been considerable research to show that exercise can reduce the likelihood of disability in older adults, lower your risk of stroke and improve bone health. It’s good for your heart, your lungs and your muscles. Now, according to Stat News, research reveals that exercise may help memory and attention.
Exercise causes your muscles to release molecules that enter your brain. These molecules can possibly stimulate the brain to grow new neurons. And, some are suggesting that this could make you smarter.
We don’t begin to fully understand the effects of exercise on the brain. But, the data is showing that people with early dementia, for example, fare better through exercise. And, exercise offers clear benefits to memory for healthy people.
Wendy Suzuki, a New York University psychologist is looking at how running on a treadmill affects people’s consumption of oxygen. She has found benefits to their memory and attention. She has also run tests that reveal mood improvements from exercise for people with brain injuries.
Suzuki cautions that to improve brain function your exercise must be more strenuous than walking. But, you don’t have to run a marathon either. Suzuki suggests that moderate exercise a few times a week might just do the trick.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Five ways to ensure the people you love are safe and healthy
- Five ways to ease your fear of falling
- Four key differences between traditional Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan
- Social Security benefits barely increasing in 2017
- Traditional Medicare is changing
