Exercise And Time Dependent Benefits On Learning And Memory

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is known to increase synaptic efficacy and promote neuronal survival. This protein is also a biomarker for impaired general cognitive function and memory. Studies have bee conducted on mice measuring the concentration of circulating, also called plasma or serum, BDNF in the blood of these animals when they exercise. Exercise has been proven to increase cognitive function and links between a large level of BDNF in the bloodstream and improved results on spatial/ cognitive testing of these rats shows that BDNF correlates to an increase in memory and cognitive abilities. In this research, studies with varying results on BDNF and exercise were taken and summarized in hopes of finding a

Research has proven that physical activity improves cognitive function and can also improve brain function throughout a lifespan. Moreover, staying physically active has so many benefits as well. For example, doing exercise and fitness activities help build cells and natural pathways to help reduce changes in memory loss or dementia. Also, it has so many health benefits including long-term improvements to the cognitive function as the young adult reaching mid

Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2015) state that there is research showing how brain plasticity can be enhanced through aerobic exercise (p.51). It is important that adults be active in their lives. A 30-minute walk or some type of physical activity will benefit them as the age. The text mentions a study done by Erickson and his colleagues in 2009 where they studied the effect of aerobic exercise on the hippocampus. They found that due to aerobic exercise it produced greater volume in the hippocampus. This is significant because the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions, and spatial functioning. The body does not only need physical activities to produce healthier cognitive functioning but also nutrients. The text identifies three nutrient biomarker patterns that are significant on the aging brain. These nutrients are vitamin B, C,D, and E, omega-3, and trans fat. the foods that belong to these nutrients are beneficial to the brain. Older adults should make an effort to include these nutrients into their diets. positive impacts these nutrients make are better cognitive functioning and greater brain

In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, MD (2008), Ratey discuses how exercise can help treat many mood disorders and how it can help strengthen our brains. This book is divided into ten chapters all with five to ten subsections in them. The chapters include: Welcome to the revolution: A Case Study on Exercise and the brain, Learning, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction, Hormonal Changers, Aging, and the Regimen.

In the book Spark, written by Dr. John J. Ratey, he discusses how exercise can positively affect how your brain works. He provides studies and personal experiences to support the claims he makes. I always knew exercise would improve your life but never could have imagined how much it can affect your brain health as well. The chapter I thought spoke the most to me was chapter two, Learning: Grow Your Brain Cells.

Exercise may benefit the brain by increasing blood and oxygen flow due to its known cardiovascular benefits since the head and heart seem to have a connection when conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol have been linked to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). Furthermore, treatment is available as of today that may temporarily help memory and thinking problems, but this medications do not treat the origin of

There is ample evidence to demonstrate that through the normal ageing process alterations to the brain in structure and function are directly related to cognitive changes (Glisky, 2007). With an increasing ageing population strategies for prevention of disease and age related cognitive decline are necessary to improve quality of life and reduce the associated healthcare costs (Australian Government Productivity Commission [AGPC], 2013). Physical exercise is known to be crucial in maintaining physiological health; it can also be used as a means of neuroprotection and assist in modifiable risk factors for improved brain health and subsequent cognitive function. This review will critically analyse current research into the effects of exercise

Blakemore (1988) defines memory as the ability to retain information from past experiences. According to a study done by Brown-Peterson, the average person’s short-term memory is 60% accurate (Gross et al., 2015). According to a research experiment, conducted by Stroth et al. (2011), a possible way of increasing memory is through aerobic exercise. Stroth et al. (2011), concluded that aerobic exercise improves the visual memory by 25%. According to a study done Leavitt et al. (2014), aerobic exercise can increase the volume of the hippocampus, which has been linked to memory formation and short-term memory, by 16.5 %. Previous studies have revealed that there is a causal relationship between aerobic exercise and memory; however, previous studies have not looked into ways that improve short-term memory (Holt et al., 2015). This study tests the hypothesis, that aerobic exercise has a positive correlation with short-term memory, and that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise can increase the accuracy of a person’s short-term memory by 10-20 %.

Human physical activity occurs in different ways and varies in intensity and duration. Several methods have been used to investigate the effects of physical activity in humans. Studies of this type are vital because direct measures provide a means to examine a cause and effect relationship between PA and neuroplasticity substrates. Accordingly, several investigations that aim to determine the neurobiological, psychological, and physiological effects of PA on humans. Physical activity produces anti-depressant effects and improves cognitive function, enhances quality of life, improves sleep, optimizes brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)levels and function in the hippocampus,and enhances fitness measures. (Phillips

The trial results are in line with the author’s hypothesis. The experimental group who completed six month exercise regime showed a significant reduction in neuropsychiatric disturbances. Whilst in the control group showed functional and neuropsychiatric deterioration and these disturbances marginally increased.

The biochemical mechanisms by which regular exercise significantly benefits health and well being, including improved cognitive function, are not well understood. Four-week-old (young) and 14-month-old (middle aged) Wistar rats were randomly assigned to young control and young exercised, middle-aged control and middle-aged exercised groups. Exercise groups were exposed to a swimming regime of 1 h a day, 5 days a week for 9 weeks. The passive avoidance test showed that middle-aged exercised rats had

In my experiment, “How Much Does Physical Exercise Affect the Brain?”, I determined if exercise really affects the brain, and if it is really worth it. This information can show those who are kinesthetic learners, see how movement improves their learning experience. This may also motivate others to live a healthier lifestyle, seeing how much it would affect their brain. Everyone knows that physical exercise is good for you but I wanted to see it for myself. I thought that, if we had three groups of people, active, inactive, and normal routines, then those who are active will have a better response to questions asked because of the increased white matter in the brain. I asked people to be active, inactive, or act normal, so I could ask them

The review article by Jackson et al. discusses how engaging in physical activity, cognitive activity, and following a healthy diet can promote brain health. These lifestyle factors contribute to increasing reserve - the capacity of the brain to maintain function in the face of acute injury, degenerative impairment etc. Studies in both humans and animal models have demonstrated that physical activity has direct effects on brain health. For example, physical exercise in rodents increases neurogenesis in hippocampal dentate gyrus and induces angiogenesis in the cortex and other brain regions. Consistent with the studies using rodents, higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels in adults were linked to better performance in hippocampal mediated tasks

A broadcast from CBS televised a video clip from The Early Show. The show was about how exercise helps the brain perform better and may have crucial implications for kids. The host, Dr. Debbye Turner-Bell, provides many striking examples proving the importance of exercise: A high school in Illinois substantiated the importance of exercise with empirical test’s, which showed how students in PE classes performed better in a math test compared to inactive students. A professor at Harvard medical school, Dr. John Ratey, states that exercise produces growth factors called BDNF that helps producing brain cells in hippocampus – an

The Erikson et al. article supports the idea that physical exercise helps the brain by improving memory and the size of the hippocampus. Erikson and his colleagues suggested in their study that physical exercise increases the retention of information and improves learning capabilities. The way they measured this was by studying the increased or decreased size of the subject’s hippocampus and levels of BDNF. The control group in this experiment completed stretching/toning exercises while the experimental group did aerobic exercise; the experimental group ended up having a larger hippocampus volume than when starting out, as well as higher levels of BDNF; the