This Is Your Brain on Exercise

experiencelife.com
9 mins read
T he benefits of physical activity are more than muscle-deep.
Moving your body builds and conditions your gray matter,
making you smarter, happier, and more resilient.

News flash: Exercise isn’t all about your body. In fact, building mus-
cles and conditioning your heart and circulatory system are side
effects. Exercise is really about your brain.

Humans evolved to move, and that movement — hunting, foraging,

running, climbing — spurred brain growth, especially in the prefron-
tal cortex, which differentiates us from other animals. “Thinking is
the evolutionary internalization of movement,” explains New York
University neuroscience professor Rodolfo Llinás, MD, PhD, author of
I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self.

When you’re exercising, your brain is usually not what’s on your

mind. But that activity is building your gray matter in myriad ways,
making you more alert, creative, motivated, and perceptive, says John
Ratey, MD, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medi-
cal School. It’s helping you learn better, remember more, and combat
stress. It’s boosting your mood while helping you overcome anxiety
and depression.

In sum, exercise keeps your brain healthy.

“The real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is
that it makes the brain function at its best,” says Ratey, author of
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. “The
point of exercise is to build and condition the brain.”

The reverse is also true, however: “What virtually no one recognizes,”

he warns, “is that inactivity is killing our brains.”

Build a Better Brain

Scientists long believed that we’re born with all the neurons we’re
ever going to get, and that our brains are hardwired once we pass
adolescence. In the last few decades, research has challenged those
views.

“We now know that the brain is flexible, or plastic, in the parlance of
neuroscientists — more Play-Doh than porcelain,” Ratey explains. Our
brains are constantly growing; they can even be rewired. And exer-
cise is the key.

Scientists understand that physical activity stresses our brains simi-

larly to how it works our muscles. Neurons break down, then recover
and become stronger and more resilient. “Aerobic exercise can change
the brain’s anatomy, physiology — and function,” says New York Uni-
versity neural science professor Wendy Suzuki, PhD, author of
Healthy Brain, Happy Life.

Numerous recent studies have revealed just how those changes occur.
What’s becoming clear are the many neurological factors that activity
positively influences, including the following.

Alertness and Perception

The brain is all about communication. It’s composed of 100 billion
neurons that confer with each other, governing every thought and
action. Synapses are the connections between neurons; they fire elec-
trical signals that neurotransmitters carry to the next neuron’s den-
drite branch. Neurotransmitters are thus key to brain function — and
they’re strengthened by exercise.

“Exercise is potent,” Ratey says. “More nerve cells fire when we’re
exercising than when we’re doing anything else. This activates the
brain as a whole. It turns on arousal, attention, the frontal cortex, the
executive functioning area — so we’re all set to participate in the
world.”

Among these neurotransmitters are norepinephrine, which sparks

attention, perception, motivation, and arousal; serotonin, which
directs “traffic,” influencing mood, impulsivity, anger, and aggres-
sion; and dopamine, which governs attention and learning, plus our
sense of contentment and reward.

Movement and Coordination

As we move, our brains learn how to move better the next time. Exer-
cise stimulates the cerebellum, which coordinates all the body’s
motor movements, like standing upright, hitting a hockey puck, and
performing a plié.

The prefrontal cortex is the brain’s CEO, explains Ratey; it’s in charge
of executive functions, controlling physical actions, receiving input,
and issuing instructions to the body. Managing short-term working
memory, judging, and planning are also its responsibility.

“When we exercise, particularly if the exercise requires complex

motor movement, we’re also exercising the area of the brain involved
in the full suite of cognitive functions,” he explains. “We’re causing
the brain to fire signals along the same network of cells, which solidi-
fies their connections.”

Attention and Concentration

Our brains become more active when we are active; this causes neu-
rons to fire in unison, creating brain waves. When we’re on autopilot
— sleeping, brushing our teeth, watching TV — low-frequency waves
prevail. High-frequency waves called beta waves dominate when
we’re focused and processing information.

Using electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring to track electrical

pulses, researchers discovered that exercise intensifies brain-wave
amplitude and frequency, and more beta waves propel you into a
more alert state. “The most common finding in studies on exercise is
that increased aerobic exercise will improve your ability to focus
attention and your ability to shift your attention,” Suzuki explains.
Experts believe this enhanced focus comes from the bump in dopa-
mine, which calms the mind. Ratey, for example, is convinced physi-
cal activity can ease attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in kids and adults alike.

Learning
The functions of learning and memory are concentrated in the hippo-
campus, a small region tucked in the brain’s center. But we wouldn’t
be able to learn without aid from the prefrontal cortex — part of the
reason communication within the brain is so vital.

Neurotrophins build and maintain the brain’s basic cell circuitry. Key
among these in the hippocampus is the recently discovered brain-
derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that incites neuron
growth.

“BDNF works in many ways,” Ratey explains. “It makes brain cells
work better; it grows them; it prevents them from eroding; it helps
deal with stresses; it provides the right environment for brain cells to
prosper.” BDNF is released when neurons fire, causing the brain to
produce more BDNF. When we exercise, those neurons fire like crazy,
elevating BDNF levels.

Physical activity also prompts other hormone factors into action:

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), vascular endothelial growth factor,
and fibroblast growth factor all push through the blood–brain barrier
and work with BDNF to enhance the molecular machinery of learning.
In addition, the hormone IGF-1 delivers the brain’s primary fuel —
glucose — to neurons to spur learning.

So, while going for a run won’t transform us into geniuses, Ratey says
exercise certainly boosts our potential for learning and increases our
rate of learning. Both Ratey and Suzuki believe that kids need physi-
cal education integrated into classrooms to optimize how they learn.
And for adults? “We don’t have to be looking for that magic pill to
make us smarter,” says Suzuki. “We really should be looking for that
magic exercise regimen that will optimize all these different brain
areas.”

Memory
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Columbia University
researchers discovered that BDNF helps the brain create new neurons
(a process called neurogenesis) in just two regions: the hippocampus,
which is crucial for long-term memory, and the olfactory bulb, the
area responsible for smell and taste. This process affects our percep-
tion of the world.

In tests on rodents, exercise doubled the rate of neurogenesis in the

hippocampus, Suzuki reports. Plus, it increased the number of den-
dritic spines on the neurons as well as their length — all of which
improve neuronal communication.

These physiological changes are called long-term potentiation (LTP),

and in further rodent studies, researchers found that exercise-in-
duced LTP improved hippocampal function as measured by a broad
range of memory tests.

Other studies have shown similar memory gains for people. In a 2016
report published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, researchers
conducted MRI scans of cross-country runners and identified “signifi-
cantly greater connectivity” between parts of their brains associated
with attention, decision-making, multitasking, processing sensory
input, and memory, compared with a control group of nonrunners.

Creativity and Imagination

The hippocampus — which lights up with electrical activity during
exercise — also fuels imagination, or thinking about the future and
other possibilities. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Experi-
mental Psychology divided 176 college students and adults into two
groups, one of which walked while taking a creativity test; the other
was sedentary during the test. The walkers scored 81 percent higher.

“We’re not saying walking can turn you into Michelangelo,” says
study coauthor Marily Oppezzo, PhD, a Stanford University psycholo-
gist. “But it could help you at the beginning stages of creativity.”

Suzuki believes that such a boost in creativity and imagination could

help build a better world. “This also raises the possibility that
increased exercise might enhance our ability to imagine the future in
a new way,” she says.

Exercise and Mental Health

Beyond our cognitive abilities, exercise plays a profound role in our
mental health. Some theorize that depression is caused at least in
part by depleted levels of a category of neurotransmitters called mon-
oamines, which include serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine —
all of which are magnified by exercise.

“Going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of
Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates these neurotransmit-
ters,” says Ratey.

In the process, exercise helps our brains balance hormones. Ratey

believes that, along with alleviating depression, this harmonizing of
our hormones also inoculates us against toxic stress and eases anxi-
ety. “Keeping your brain in balance can change your life,” he says.

Exercise has other effects on mood, as well. Just as our muscles

demand more energy during exercise, our brains gobble up glucose.
In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, University of
California, Davis, researchers discovered what the brain was doing
with all that fuel: making more neurotransmitters.
MRI scans found that levels of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric
acid (GABA) swelled in participants after a stationary-bike session.
This may aid in tempering depression, according to lead researcher
Richard Maddock, MD, MS, because the stores of glutamate were cen-
tered in regions of the brain where the neurotransmitter had been
depleted in depressed individuals.

Keeping the Brain Young

All the processes that physical activity induces in the brain add up to
one sum: Exercise keeps our brains young. “Everything we’ve learned
continues to confirm that exercise helps prevent cognitive decline as
we age,” Ratey says. “All the antiaging protocols include exercise in a
big way — it’s often the No. 1 lifestyle change to help people prevent
aging and cognitive decline.”

Exercise not only makes our brains stronger; it also protects them.
Physical activity induces the brain to create enzymes that chew up the
amyloid beta-protein plaque that triggers Alzheimer’s by strangling
neurons, explains Harvard neurology professor Rudolph Tanzi, PhD,
coauthor of Super Brain, a New York Times bestseller.

A new study by Tanzi’s research team suggests exercise also battles

inflammation in the brain. A basic immune-system response to injury,
inflammation can become chronic as we age, and studies have identi-
fied it as a primary agent in Alzheimer’s. Exercise — along with life-
style changes such as solid nutrition and good sleep — may actually
help reverse Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline, Tanzi says.

Finally, among the flurry of research over the past decade is a 2009
study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published
in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, that used magnetic reso-
nance angiography on 14 participants between the ages of 60 and 74.
Those who exercised weekly significantly increased the number of
capillaries in their brains compared with a control group. This con-
tributes to optimum brain function — similar to the effects of exercise
on healthy muscles.

Lead study author Elizabeth Bullitt, MD, writes, “Our findings suggest
that aerobic activity appears to be associated with a ‘younger-appear-
ing brain.’”

This originally appeared as “Your Brain on Exercise” in the May 2018

issue of Experience Life.

Just Move
Ironically, you might want to be sitting down to hear the good news
about moving.

While most studies have focused on aerobic exercise and its effects on
the brain, recent research suggests that all exercise is beneficial,
including resistance training. A 2017 meta-review of studies — coau-
thored by neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki, PhD, and published in the
journal Brain Plasticity — found that just a single bout of exercise
benefits your brain. The review, however, doesn’t detail how long
that session should be, how intense, or what activities it might
include.

Another study showed that just one hour of exercise per week can
help prevent depression. The 2017 research published in the American
Journal of Psychiatry monitored 33,908 Norwegian adults for 11 years
and found lower rates of self-described depression among those who
spent an hour a week doing “low-level” exercise.

So what exercise is best? Psychiatrist John Ratey, MD, recommends

movements that simultaneously tax your cardiovascular system and
your brain — tennis, yoga, dance, Pilates, karate, ice skating, and so
on.

“While aerobic exercise elevates neuro-transmitters, creates new

blood vessels that pipe in growth factors, and spawns new cells, com-
plex activities put all that material to use by strengthening and
expanding networks,” Ratey explains. “The more complex the move-
ments, the more complex the synaptic connections.”

Even though movement creates this new brain circuitry, your brain
will recruit it for other tasks, too. “Any motor skill more complicated
than walking has to be learned, and thus it challenges the brain,” he
says. This is why learning how to play piano makes it easier for peo-
ple to learn math.

“What it means is that you have the power to change your brain,” he
notes. “All you have to do is lace up your running shoes.”

Measuring Brain Activity

3 Pounds: What the typical brain weighs. Human brains have
shrunk significantly over the past 20,000 years; the lost volume is
equivalent to the size of a tennis ball.

20%: Percentage of the body’s available energy in the form of glu-

cose (sugar) that the brain uses.

15%: Percentage of the body’s blood flow that goes to the brain.
Every minute, 750 to 1,000 milliliters of blood flows through the
brain, enough to fill a bottle of wine.

100  Billion: Number of neurons in the brain. Neurons govern every

thought and action; each neuron can transmit 1,000 nerve impulses
per second — and make tens of thousands of synaptic contacts with
other neurons.

10%: Percentage of our brains that popular mythology says we use.

Modern brain scans, however, show we use most of our brains most
of the time — even when we’re sleeping.