NEWS RELEASE

December 7, 2001

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Exercise, Good Nutrition Can Go to Your Head, Notably Your Brain

We’ve all heard the reasons to exercise – better cardiovascular health and increased strength to name just a couple – but there is another dimension to examine.

Researchers are finding evidence that physical exercise can benefit some brain mechanisms. We’ve seen how mental behaviors can affect the body; for instance, there are many examples of how stress manifests in our bodies. On the flip side, recent research is showing how the state of our bodies affects brain performance.

The brain accounts for a mere 2 percent of body weight, but uses 25 percent of your inhaled oxygen. Good lung function is essential to getting oxygen to the brain.

During exercise, the heart pumps more oxygenated blood to the brain. Regular exercise keeps your lungs working optimally, allowing more oxygen to reach the brain, which in turn helps the brain perform at peak levels.

Dr. Cynthia Green, founder and director of the Memory Enhancement Program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, cites physical activity as a key factor in learning and remembering more effectively. “The healthier we are overall, the healthier our memory will be,” she says.

Last year, the Society for Neuroscience published an analysis of studies exploring the role of exercise in brain function. In one study, adult mice doubled their number of new brain cells when they had access to a running wheel.

In recent years, studies have shown the brain can generate new cells. The brain was previously thought to stop producing new nerve cells early in its development. Physical activity is a key to stimulating the rate at which new cells are born.

Findings also show exercise can prolong the survival of existing brain cells.

Aside from how improved memory can help in juggling busy lives, keeping your brain fit is crucial to aging.

A study by the University of Illinois’ Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology examined how walking and toning exercises cognitively affected adults ages 60 to 75. The walking group showed more improvement in processing and ignoring irrelevant cues and more successfully completed tasks than the toning group. Other studies confirm these results and show that elderly individuals regularly involved in physical activities perform better on cognitive tests than their couch-potato counterparts.

Besides physical activity, another healthy habit to keep your brain in shape is good nutrition. Green said we should spread eating throughout the day in the form of six smaller meals instead of the typical three. This allows the body to absorb nutrients more efficiently.

Dr. Candace Pert, research professor in biophysics and physiology at Georgetown University School of Medicine agrees and says our largest meal should be at midday. This lets the food be digested before we sleep. When we eat late, food tends to get deposited as fat, but eating a large meal in the middle of the day lets the mind and body use the nutrients to reinforce conscious waking activity instead.

Another must for all body tissues, including the brain, is adequate hydration.

Some researchers have found that diets that are sugar-heavy can interfere with memory functioning in the long run. Evidence also suggest that even small amounts of alcohol can interfere with new learning. Significant long-term use of alcohol has been associated with a form of memory disorder. Some supplements can theoretically improve memory by getting more blood to the brain, but you can do that more safely and effectively through regular exercise.

Our brains and bodies work to keep us attentive and able to solve problems. Fundamental movements such as walking and running can trigger neural firing patterns in several regions of the brain.

As Pert pointed out, “our bodies don’t exist to carry our heads around. Any thinking has the whole body participating.”