It’s long been known that aerobic exercise can enhance the health and function of our brain.
Seniors eagerly seek something to take to help prevent memory loss, depression or reduction in the ability to concentrate fully. Some supplements can help those things, but there is one prescription that is more proven, and consistently helpful. It’s called exercise.
Evidence is mounting that physical exercise is good for the brain as well as the body. The good news: Regular physical activity invites long term, neurologic benefits.
It turns out that aerobic exercise slows the loss of gray matter, the part of the brain that atrophies as we age. This is one way exercise keeps us mentally young. Gray matter makes up the part of the brain that allows for processing of information. Research shows that the more dense the gray matter is in a particular region of the brain, the more intelligence or skill the brain’s owner is likely to have.
While such aerobic exercise like brisk walking, exergaming at an aerobic heart rate or using the elliptical machine prevents brain aging, scientists have found that anaerobic exercise, such as working out with weights, stimulates the creation of new brain cells in the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning. Many people think that the brain stops growing by adulthood, but new nerve cells continue to be generated throughout our lives. Exercise can help stimulate the growth of such cells, which are essential to learning.
There are other ways in which exercise builds up our ability to defend ourselves against neurologic decline. Exercise causes levels of a substance called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) to increase. BDNF has been called “Miracle-Gro for the brain” by Harvard Psychiatrist John J Ratey, MD in his book “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” because it helps nerve cells transmit information better. In fact, low levels of BDNF are associated with depression; so increasing BDNF through exercise can be a natural antidepressant in a more permanent way than that surge of endorphins.
Play some brain games, stay social, continue to learn through life – but if you want to give neurologic decline the 1-2 punch, lace on your shoes and enjoy regular physical activity that is specific to your age and condition. Seniors love Silver Sneakers and appropriate circuit classes. If you think you’re feeling smarter over time, you’ll be 100% right!
People spend enormous resources investigating and purchasing supplements that have far less evidence supporting their use in preventing neurological decline than does simple exercise.
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