Exercise enhances cognition through various channels. Cellular experiments conducted by researchers showed that contracting muscle cells released chemical signals that enhanced neuronal growth and firing rates; supporting cells known as astrocytes then monitored these signals to avoid over-exciting neurons.
Yet recent studies cast doubt on the results of previous meta-analyses linking exercise to cognition, suggesting that its benefits may be limited in healthy people.
1. Increased Blood Flow to the Brain
As soon as you begin an exercise regimen, your heart and lungs work hard to pump more oxygen-rich blood into your brain resulting in enhanced cerebral oxygenation or cognitive enhancement.
Researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and near-infrared spectroscopy to study the impact of acute exercise on cognition. For instance, fMRI revealed that acute exercise enhances performance on the Stroop task by activating prefrontal cortex regions linked to executive control.
One study published in Nature Human Behavior followed individuals over 30 years, and discovered those who exercised most during their youth had lower rates of age-related cognitive decline than others. Another research paper using genetic data suggested those who may be genetically predisposed towards exercise might see even better cognitive results! These findings provide further support for keeping those New Year’s resolutions to get moving!
2. Increased Mental Clarity
Many who exercise regularly do so for physical reasons, yet also experience its mood-boosting properties. Exercise has been found to increase self-esteem and confidence levels while giving more energy throughout the day and improving sleep at night, plus improving sexual life sex lives, all which serve to make us feel good about ourselves overall.
Not only can exercising help your mental clarity, but the environment in which you choose to exercise may also have an effect. Researchers found that participants who exercised outdoors performed better on cognitive tasks than those who walked in urban environments.
Exercise doesn’t have to be time-consuming or exhausting in order to have its beneficial effect. Aim for 30 minutes of moderate physical activity 3-5 times weekly. You may need to break this up into smaller chunks if necessary in order to fit it into your schedule.
3. Reduced Stress
Exercise provides an outlet to disconnect from stressors and concentrate on being present in the present moment. Plus, having a consistent exercise regime can help regulate sleep patterns – further minimizing its impact on cognitive performance!
One possible explanation for why exercise improves cognitive function may be increased blood flow to the brain, as evidenced by a recent Cerebral Cortex study which discovered that those who engaged in moderate aerobic training performed better on executive control tasks than those who didn’t exercise; researchers speculated that resistance training, which involves different sequences of movements than endurance exercises, also enhanced cognitive functions.
Animal studies have demonstrated the positive benefits of exercise before stressful situations for cognitive improvement and stress resilience, but most human studies on this subject have had variable results, with only some showing an impactful response from exercise before stressors.
4. Improved Memory
Numerous studies demonstrate that those who engage in regular physical exercise tend to outscore those who don’t when it comes to memory tests. Indeed, research suggests that exercising for an entire year may increase brain regions that regulate thinking and memory functions.
However, it remains uncertain whether acute exercise’s benefits on memory are driven by processes occurring after encoding and short-term retention (memory consolidation) or earlier during learning (performance modulation). Additional research should investigate how different dimensions of exercise (such as duration and frequency) interact with specific memory outcomes and types of processing to uniquely influence its impact on cognition.
Future research should examine the effects of different training strategies on memory performance, particularly when conducting within-subject designs. Furthermore, when investigating acute exercise-memory relationships it should also account for interactions between age and baseline memory function as a means to ensure results do not solely result from regression-to-the-mean effects or proactive interference effects from preexercise assessment.
