Why Exercise Matters to your Brain
Mylea Charvat, PH.D.
CEO & Founder at Savonix
Get Moving
As a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, I recently attended the world’s largest Alzheimer’s scientific conference, the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2017, earlier this week in London.
As I walked around the poster presentations and listened to the different scientific sessions, I noticed an increasing number of studies that suggest exercise can boost brain function and protect against dementia. The Washington Post published an article recently about another new study that showed how interrupted sleep may lead to Alzheimer’s disease, and sleep will be the second topic in this four part series of articles about what everyone can do to protect against Dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease.
A recent study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease, which was reported in Time magazine, showed that people who did more moderate-intensity physical activity were more likely to have healthy patterns of glucose metabolism in their brains – a sign of healthy brain activity – compared to people who exercised less.
But this shouldn’t be shocking news.
The Federal Government published its first guidelines, regarding the recommended amount of physical activity for Americans ages 6 and over back in 2008. These guidelines also include individuals at increased risk of chronic disease – and provides science-based advice on how physical activity can help promote health and reduce the risk of chronic disease, including dementia.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggests that adults should exercise for at least 2.5 hours per week, compared to children who need at least an hour per day(1). Exercise not only improves your physical health, but also cognition. It has global effects on the brain, enriching function in areas that traditionally have not been thought to be related to exercise(3).
How does exercise improve brain health? Find out HERE!
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