The simple exercise that brings surprising benefits to the brain – 02/12/2023 – Equilibrium

“From an evolutionary perspective, we’ve evolved really big brains, which are especially costly to maintain.”

“They’re too big, too inefficient and need a lot of energy to function, even at rest,” says Damian Bailey, director of the Institute for Health and Wellness Research at the University of South Wales in the UK.

Bailey, who is also the leader of the University’s Neurovascular Research Laboratory, explained that his group turned to physical activity because “there is no curative treatment for neurodegeneration and exercise has emerged as a very, very powerful countermeasure.”

But the big question, according to him, is: how much exercise should be done, what kind and how often.

“A lot of what we do in the lab is look at different aspects of exercise, in terms of type, intensity and duration, trying to find the sweet spot where we can see optimal adaptation,” says Bailey.

We know that with physical activity we can increase blood flow to the brain, which is crucial because it helps the brain recognize the useful chemicals it needs to grow, says the scientist.

This blood supply is also important because our hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory, tends to shrink as we age, receiving less blood as we do so.

Thanks to recent technological advances, scientists can understand how physical activity benefits the brain.

They can measure blood flow to the brain through the neck and brain.

“And what our research is showing is that you don’t have to do mind-boggling workouts or push yourself in the gym to benefit certain parts of the brain.”

“You can do some big moves that almost don’t feel like you’re doing physical exertion and that really stimulate the brain.”

what exercises

“What we’ve identified is that, particularly for people who aren’t very fit or who can’t do heavy exercise, squats are a very useful option.”

That’s right: repeatedly squatting down and standing up has been described as a “smart” form of exercise because it “challenges the brain” and therefore benefits it.

The best thing about doing squats, explains the scientist, is that when you stand up, you are going against gravity; when you go down, you work with gravity.

“What happens is the blood flow to the brain repeatedly goes up and down as you move, and it’s this change in flow that can stimulate the vascular endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, to supply more blood to the brain. “

Do you need to do a lot of repetitions?

At a minimum, Bailey recommends doing squats for three minutes three times a week.

He says that when they measure how quickly blood enters the brain in volunteers they show that the best results happen with a regimen of squats 4-5 times a day, 3-4 times a week.

He says these results are better than other exercises such as running, walking or cycling on stationary devices for 30 to 40 minutes.

What’s more: You can kill two birds with one stone if, while exercising, you read or do a crossword puzzle because, as Bailey explains, “We know that we can further improve the flow to the brain by providing what we call a cognitive stressor, the cognitive load”.

at the extremes

The oxygen deprivation experienced in some extreme sports can also be used as a stressor to push the limits of the brain and understand how its defense mechanisms work.

Since Bailey is a former athlete, he is himself the subject of his own investigation.

“You have to practice what you preach.”

“We use a whole range of extreme sports to challenge the brain to get a different view of these mechanisms,” he says, citing freediving, skydiving and mountaineering.

We are so sensitive to the lack of oxygen that when we go, for example, to extreme altitudes with extremely low oxygen levels, there is an increase in blood flow.

“The brain is compensating all the time. It’s like walking a bioenergetic tightrope. It constantly has to make adjustments so it doesn’t fall off.”

Tracking the brain’s responses to extreme conditions could shed light not only on how to treat diseases like dementia, but also on how to make long-term space missions possible.

The brain is particularly sensitive to changes in gravity, says Bailey.

“With the lack of gravity in space and the blood flowing to the head… you only have to look at the red, puffy faces and skinny legs of the astronauts.”

And one of the possible complications of this is that, in the long run, it can increase pressure within the brain, which can influence your vision.

“That’s one of the biggest problems we face and that’s why we’re doing experiments to try to understand, solve and develop countermeasures for a human flight to Mars.”

At the University of Milan, Italian researchers are also investigating the matter.

“We thought, ‘What happens when you can’t move?'” says Daniele Bottai of the university’s Department of Health Sciences.

“Because there are situations, like when people spend a lot of time on their couches during the pandemic, or when you’re sick or you’ve been orbiting in space for months.”

“We tend to worry about circulation, bones, muscles, but we also have to think about brain performance.”

Inactivity reduces blood flow to the brain and not getting enough oxygen can have dire consequences.

“When things go wrong with the brain, you only need a very small window to take damage, which is why we’re interested in physical activity,” Bailey reiterated.

“It’s the only countermeasure that exists right now, and we’re starting to scratch the surface as far as the brain is concerned.”

This text was originally published here