How Exercise Can Improve Your Brain
Posted October 26th, 2015
It is pretty much common knowledge that exercise can improve your health and help to prevent disease. But research is also showing that exercise has a big effect on the brain as well. In fact, it can help keep your brain in top condition – which in turn can have a big impact on your performance at work. Exercise helps the brain in several ways.
Exercise can actually cause the production of new neurons in the brain. It does this by increasing the level of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It helps increase the growth and formation of neurons, and causes an area of the brain called the hippocampus to grow. The hippocampus is associated with memory.
The brain has two different types of tissue, called gray matter and white matter. Exercise has been shown to increase the size and integrity of both types of tissue. Gray matter is where neurons that perform specific functions are located, while white matter is the tissue that is responsible for communication between different areas of the brain. Because exercise helps to enhance both gray and white matter, it is the best way to maintain the health and efficient functioning of the brain.
Research has shown that older people who exercise regularly have brains that function better and also have white matter that functions better than people who do not exercise. They also have what is called better cognitive flexibility, the ability of the brain to switch between different ways of thinking and the ability to handle several ideas at the same time.
Other research also showed that people of all ages, including children, had white matter that functioned better if they had regular aerobic exercise. The research showed that exercise improved the microstructures of white matter in the brain.
The studies showed that older people who exercised regularly used areas of their brains that younger people did, while people who did not exercise used different areas than younger people because of the decay of white matter through aging.
When engaged in cognitive functions involving memory, younger people tend to rely on the prefrontal cortex of their right brain hemisphere, but because of age-related deterioration, older people rely on the cortex in both hemispheres. The older men who were fit tended to use parts of the brain the way younger people do.
If you are looking for work in the San Francisco Bay area, give Bayside Solutions a call. Bayside focuses mainly on technology-related fields, and as a result, has built up a strong record of placements in these areas. Give Bayside Solutions a call today.
