09 413 5312
Elevate Chiropractic
  • Home
  • Services
    • Acute Pain & Injury Care
    • Good Posture
  • About Us
  • Blog
    • FAQs
  • Contact Us

Do you want better memory? Try exercise!

3/11/2014

0 Comments

 
I have always thought that your memory naturally gets worse as you age, but apparently, this does not have to be the case.  In fact a healthy lifestyle can support brain health and can even encourage your brain to grow new neurons.  This is called neurogenesis or neuroplasticity. Your hippocampus (the brains memory center) is particularly adaptable and is capable of growing new cells throughout your lifetime, so long as you give it the tools to do so.  According to John J Ratey, the author of the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, there’s overwhelming evidence that exercise produces large cognitive gains and helps fight dementia. Some new research has shown that exercise may even be able to help with your study! 
One way in which exercise is thought to benefit your memory is by prompting nerve cells to release proteins known as neurotrophic factors.  These growth factors signal brain stem cells and muscle satellite cells to convert into new neurons and new muscle cells respectively.  This in part explains how exercise benefits both your muscles and your brain at the same time.

A 2010 study in Neuroscience on primates revealed that regular exercise helped the monkeys learn new tasks twice as quickly as non-exercising monkeys.  The researchers believe this would work for people as well. 

More recently, a study from Georgia Institute of Technology found that a mere 20 minute weight training session could improve long term memory.  “Our study indicates that people don’t have to dedicate large amounts of time to give their brain a boost” said the lead researcher.  In the study the participants were shown images, classified as either positive, neutral or negative.  They were asked to recall as many images as possible.  They were then assigned to two groups, active or passive.  The active group was told to do 50 leg extension at their maximal effort using a resistance exercise machine. The passive group was asked to simply sit and let the machine move their leg for them.  2 days later, the participants were shown a series of images, including the ones they’d not previously seen. “The researchers found about 50% of the original photos were recalled by the passive group, while the active group remembered about 60% of the images”.  The lead researcher Lisa Weinberg believes that other forms of exercise, such as squats or knee bends would most likely produce similar results. A 10% difference may not seem like a lot, but I would think every improvement would be beneficial.

According to Dr Joseph Mercola, a natural health expert at www.mercola.com, a number of other studies have investigated the impact of exercise on brain performance and IQ.  These include: 
  • Among elementary school students, 40 minutes of daily exercise increased IQ by an average of nearly four points.
  • Among 6th graders, the fittest students scored 30% higher than average students, and the less fit students scored 20% lower.
  • Among older students, those who play vigorous sports have a 20% improvement in Maths, Science, English and Social studies.
  • Students who exercised before class improved test scores by 17%, and those who worked out for 40 minutes improved an entire letter grade.
  • Employees who exercise regularly are 15% more efficient than those who do not.
Another interesting research experiment mentioned by Dr Mercola was a 2012 Danish study in which men were asked to learn a tracking skill on a computer.  There were 3 groups, ones that exercised before the experiment, ones that exercised just after the experiment and ones that did no exercise.  At the follow up testing those that exercised just after the experiment performed better.  The group that exercised prior to learning also performed better than those who did not exercise (although, not as well as the group that exercised after). The conclusion for this experiment was great:
  • If you want to strengthen your memory, the new information you’re receiving can be more successfully imprinted into your brain for later recall if you work out immediately following your study session.

What to make of this research?

It continually amazes me what new research reveals about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Most people would be aware of the health and wellness benefits of exercise, but the research in this post shows another important outcome of exercise.  Better memory.  Who wouldn’t want improved memory?

If you are studying for exams I would suggest testing this out.  Do some exercise before or after your study session and see what benefits it may have.  Hopefully it will help improve your memory and your exam results.  It may also help improve your creativity as one of my previous posts pointed out.  Even if it doesn't help the memory, it is still getting you out of the poor sitting position we are often in, which is a good thing.  I will definitely be testing it out with my study.

If you found the information in this post useful, please hit the like button below.  

References
  • www.mercola.com
  • Neuroscience. 2010 Jun 2;167(4):1239-48. Epub 2010 Mar 6.
  • Effects of aerobic exercise training on cognitive function and cortical vascularity in monkeys. Rhyu IJ1, Bytheway JA, Kohler SJ, Lange H, Lee KJ, Boklewski J, McCormick K, Williams NI, Stanton GB, Greenough WT, Cameron JL. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283473.php

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Dr Craig Buscomb

    Bringing you news, research and advice on health, wellness, exercise and chiropractic care to help take your health to the next level

    Picture
    book now

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All
    6 Week Challenge
    Air Purifier
    Archetypal Postures
    Athritis
    Back Brace
    Back Pain
    Balance
    Barefoot
    Blood Pressure
    Body Hacks
    Brain Development
    Brain Function
    Breathing
    Cervicogenic Headaches
    Children
    Chiropractic Care
    Chiropractic Research
    Clicking Joints
    Computer Setup
    Concussion
    Core Exercise
    Crawling
    Cryotherapy
    Diaphragmatic Breathing
    Disc Herniation
    Disc Injury
    Dizziness
    Dr Craig Buscomb
    Elderly
    Elevate Chiropractic Clinic
    Ergonomics
    Exercise
    Eyesight
    Eyestrain
    Fall Risk
    FAQs
    Fatigue
    Feet
    Fidgeting
    Flexibility
    Foam Roller
    Foot Function
    Foot Pain
    Free Spine Checks
    Functional Movement
    Gardening
    Gift Ideas
    Goals
    Grip Strength
    Grounding
    Habits
    Hanging
    Headaches
    Headbanging
    Health
    Heat Therapy
    Hip Arthritis
    Hip Hinge
    Hip-Hinge
    Hip Pain
    Hip Test
    Hugging
    Hypermobility
    Ice
    Joint Cracking
    Kneeling
    Knee Pain
    Leg Pain
    Lifting
    Lifting Technique
    Low Back Pain
    Lower Back
    Lower Back Pain
    Massage
    Massage Ball
    Meditation
    Mid Back
    Migraine
    Mirgrane
    Mobility
    Movement
    Music
    Myofascial Release
    NEAT
    Neck Pain
    Neck Stretches
    Neuroplasticity
    New Year's Resolutions
    Nocebo Affect
    Non-Exercise Movement
    Novelty
    Office Chairs
    Osteoporosis
    Overweight
    Pediatric Care
    Performance
    Physical Activity
    Pillows
    Piriformis Syndrome
    Placebo Effect
    Plants
    Posture
    Posture Brace
    Power Poses
    Rehabilitation
    Rest
    RICE
    Risk Of Dying
    Schoolbag
    Sciatica
    Sciatic Nerve
    Seniors
    Shoes
    Shoulder
    Shoulder Pain
    Sickness
    Sitting
    Sitting Positions
    Sleep
    Sleeping
    Soft Tissue Release
    Sport
    Sports Performance
    Stability
    Static Back Position
    Stress
    Stretches
    Stretching
    Studying
    Surgery
    Teenagers
    Tension Headaches
    Testimonials
    Text Neck
    Tongue Positions
    TV
    Upper Back Pain
    Upper Cross Syndrome
    Vertigo
    Walking
    Warning Signs
    Water
    Weightloss
    Wellness
    What To Expect
    Work Breaks
    Yoga

    RSS Feed

    Contact Us
    Services
    About Us
    It's what you do everyday that impacts your health, not what you do sometimes.

Let us keep you updated with our newsletter

Quick Links

Home
Services
About Us
Blog
Contact Us
Privacy and Confidentiality

Contact Us

Shop 1, 10 Greenhithe Road
Greenhithe, Auckland 0632
P: 09 413 5312
M: 027 975 4104
E: [email protected]
Submit once, a confirmation email will be sent to you.
© Elevate Chiropractic  2014 | Website developed by Outbox Ltd