Neuroscientist: #1 Thing For Brain Health: Physical Exercise

WithWhatsLeft

Really interesting interview on Fresh Air's Tell Me Why. At the very ending, Terry Gross asks this neuroscientist what he does to keep his brain healthy - he says they don't even know why yet, but getting up and moving every day is by far the best thing for brain health.

Avoiding cognitive disorders, fighting stress and anxiety, dealing with depression - nothing can do what 30 minutes a day of physical exercise does.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/02/03/383426166/fingertips-to-hair-follicles-why-touch-causes-pleasure-and-pain

Jolinia

Thanks for the motivation, getting out of my chair and going for a brisk walk right now!

azulvioleta6

I think you might have linked to the wrong article. The link that you have up now leads to an article on touch. It was an interesting read, but a different topic.

sofaking6

I'm wondering if that part is only in the audio itself and not in the write up. I listen to a podcast about neuroscience ("The Brain Science Podcast") and they had an episode about exercise and neuroplasticity. It made me want to work out all day lol. Such an interesting branch of knowledge making huge strides these days.

tomatoey

I've read about this. It's fully 50% of my motivation

WithWhatsLeft

yep sorry - the write up is a synopsis of the interview; the comment about exercise was made in the interview you can listen to via the link (very end) but not included n the written piece.

It was short; she asked him what he did for the health of his brain, and that was his response.

azulvioleta6

I happened to catch Fresh Air on a drive last night. The part about exercise and brain plasticity is in the last 3 minutes of the segment. Very interesting.

As someone who has had a traumatic brain event (ruptured aneurysm) and several brain surgeries, I absolutely believe that challenging yourself physically and mentally can make a big difference. I think that dance really helped me to overcome some of the problems that I had right after my illness.

Our brains definitely continue to grow and change as we age, and we do have some control over how that happens.

azulvioleta6

Did you notice that he said 30 minutes of exercise every day? YES.

I get so frustrated with people who say you don't need to exercise to lose weight. Most of us DO need to, but there are a ton of other reasons why we need to be moving every day which have nothing to do with weight. We need to be active for heart health, bone health and BRAIN health, to name a few.

Mr_Knight

Suzanneishere wrote: »

Really interesting interview on Fresh Air's Tell Me Why. At the very ending, Terry Gross asks this neuroscientist what he does to keep his brain healthy - he says they don't even know why yet, but getting up and moving every day is by far the best thing for brain health.

Completely agree with this, and it 100% matches my own experience. And as it relates to MFP, I find it virtually impossible to maintain a meaningful deficit with significant exercise.

girlviernes

Thanks for sharing, more motivation to be active daily!

Mr_Knight

"without".

Gah.

girlviernes

Mr_Knight wrote: »

"without".

Gah.

I guess I filled in the "without" automatically when reading your comment, did not even notice.

Need2Exerc1se

I think that's true for health in general. People who exercise are healthier than people that don't, regardless of weight. Exercise usually makes more of an impact on lipids, BP and other health markers than dietary changes.

There have even been studies showing exercise can improve diabetes control even if no weight is lost.