We all know that exercise is good for your body and I have written several posts in the past on this topic. Some new research, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in March this year, involving identical twins suggests that it can have a big impact on your brain. The study showed that a twin who worked out regularly had significantly more gray matter in their brains than the twin that did not exercise as much. This increase was prevalent in the area of the brain involved in motor control. The exciting part about using identical twins in this type of research is that they have the same genetic makeup and usually have grown up in a similar environment. This means that the differences in the brains were more likely due to the exercise habits than other genetic factors. Continue reading to find out what they did.
The study was only a small one, using only 10 pairs of identical twins. I bet it is quite difficult finding identical twins that fit the study criteria. They were looking for twins where one exercised regularly and the other one didn’t. During the study they analyzed body compositions, insulin levels, and MRI brain scans. One important thing they noticed was that the twins had very similar diets to each other.
The results
They found that the twins that exercised more had less body fat, healthier insulin levels and larger volumes of grey matter in the brains striatal and prefrontal cortex. These are areas that are involved in motor or muscle control. Gray matter is where the processing in the brain takes place. Dr Urho Kujala a professor of sports and exercise medicine at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, where the study took place said "We were somewhat surprised that so clear change in brain structure occurred as a result of differences in exercising during adulthood, as the exercise habits of these twin pairs were similar during childhood.”
What it means
This research has its limitations in the fact that there were only 10 sets of twins used and the fact that they were all male. None of the female responders met the criteria. However, it does give another indication of the wide ranging benefits of exercise. My bet is more and more research will come out linking exercise to positive health outcomes. It would be interesting to see how long it would take these changes in grey matter to occur in someone who hadn’t been exercising. Maybe this is the direction their research will head. It was also interesting to note that the exercising twin had less body fat and better insulin levels, all signs of better health. This shows that you cannot simply blame your genes on your current health situation.
My thought is that you are never too old to start exercising. Whatever the case, appropriate exercise can only be good for you. So if you aren’t exercising regularly, start doing some, your body will thank you for it.
References
The results
They found that the twins that exercised more had less body fat, healthier insulin levels and larger volumes of grey matter in the brains striatal and prefrontal cortex. These are areas that are involved in motor or muscle control. Gray matter is where the processing in the brain takes place. Dr Urho Kujala a professor of sports and exercise medicine at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, where the study took place said "We were somewhat surprised that so clear change in brain structure occurred as a result of differences in exercising during adulthood, as the exercise habits of these twin pairs were similar during childhood.”
What it means
This research has its limitations in the fact that there were only 10 sets of twins used and the fact that they were all male. None of the female responders met the criteria. However, it does give another indication of the wide ranging benefits of exercise. My bet is more and more research will come out linking exercise to positive health outcomes. It would be interesting to see how long it would take these changes in grey matter to occur in someone who hadn’t been exercising. Maybe this is the direction their research will head. It was also interesting to note that the exercising twin had less body fat and better insulin levels, all signs of better health. This shows that you cannot simply blame your genes on your current health situation.
My thought is that you are never too old to start exercising. Whatever the case, appropriate exercise can only be good for you. So if you aren’t exercising regularly, start doing some, your body will thank you for it.
References
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/exercise-brain-gray-matter_n_7010780.html
- http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2015/03000/Physical_Activity,_Fitness,_Glucose_Homeostasis,.8.aspx
- Image: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/one-twin-exercises-the-other-doesnt/
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