Another Reason to Exercise - It Makes You Smarter
According to this New York Times article, "an expanding body of research shows that exercise can improve the performance of the brain by boosting memory and cognitive processing speed."
Before being euthanized, the animals [mice] had been injected with a chemical compound that incorporates itself into actively dividing cells. During autopsy, those cells could be identified by using a dye. Gage and his team presumed they wouldn’t find such cells in the mice’s brain tissue, but to their astonishment, they did. Up until the point of death, the mice were creating fresh neurons. Their brains were regenerating themselves.
All of the mice showed this vivid proof of what’s known as “neurogenesis,” or the creation of new neurons. But the brains of the athletic mice in particular showed many more. These mice, the ones that scampered on running wheels, were producing two to three times as many new neurons as the mice that didn’t exercise. ...Since then, scientists have been finding more evidence that the human brain is not only capable of renewing itself but that exercise speeds the process. ... What is it about exercise that prompts the brain to remake itself? Different scientists have pet theories. One popular hypothesis credits insulin-like growth factor 1, a protein that circulates in the blood and is produced in greater amounts in response to exercise. IGF-1 has trouble entering the brain — it stops at what’s called the “blood-brain barrier” — but exercise is thought to help it to do so, possibly sparking neurogenesis. Interesting stuff.
Before being euthanized, the animals [mice] had been injected with a chemical compound that incorporates itself into actively dividing cells. During autopsy, those cells could be identified by using a dye. Gage and his team presumed they wouldn’t find such cells in the mice’s brain tissue, but to their astonishment, they did. Up until the point of death, the mice were creating fresh neurons. Their brains were regenerating themselves.
All of the mice showed this vivid proof of what’s known as “neurogenesis,” or the creation of new neurons. But the brains of the athletic mice in particular showed many more. These mice, the ones that scampered on running wheels, were producing two to three times as many new neurons as the mice that didn’t exercise. ...Since then, scientists have been finding more evidence that the human brain is not only capable of renewing itself but that exercise speeds the process. ... What is it about exercise that prompts the brain to remake itself? Different scientists have pet theories. One popular hypothesis credits insulin-like growth factor 1, a protein that circulates in the blood and is produced in greater amounts in response to exercise. IGF-1 has trouble entering the brain — it stops at what’s called the “blood-brain barrier” — but exercise is thought to help it to do so, possibly sparking neurogenesis. Interesting stuff.
I'm seeing definite physical rejuvenation, but was attributing that to all of those muscle cells throughout the system that *only* respond to anaerobic activity (actually, according to Phil Campbell in Ready, Set, Go Fitness about 50% of all muscle cells in the legs, alone). If you wake up an additional 30-50% of your muscles, there are going to be neurological effects.
That is interesting stuff, Ard. Thanks,
Dave
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