Just 10 minutes of light exercise a day instantly boosts memory organization
Can’t find your keys? Try yoga: Just 10 minutes of light exercise a day instantly boosts memory organization
- We already knew exercise boosts the brain by triggering new brain cells
- But this study by Californian and Japanese scientists shows a quicker effect
- They found even light exercise is enough to strengthen connections in the brain
Mia De Graaf Health Editor For Dailymail.com
Just 10 minutes of exercise a day could help your brain to better organize your memories.
Over time, connections between parts of the brain weaken, making it harder to distinguish between similar events in your mind.
When you’ve lost your keys, for example, it can become increasingly difficult to decipher whether it was this morning or last week that you left them in your pocket.
However, new research from the University of California, Irvine and Japan‘s University of Tsukaba found that even light exercises like tai chi or yoga can have a transformative impact on the part of the brain responsible for storing and organizing memories.
While it has long been known that exercise is good for the brain, this study shows the very immediate benefits.
Previously, it was not clear that exercise could affect the brain so quickly
The small study involved 36 healthy adults in their early 20s.
In the first part of the study, they were each prescribed 10 minutes of exercise, after which they would be monitored with MRI scans.
In the second part, they repeated the test but without exercise.
According to the study, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found a clear improvement in the connections in the regions that control detailed memory processing, the hippocampal dentate gyrus and cortical areas.
In turn, that boost in connectivity made them more likely to remember certain things from the day before.
‘The hippocampus is critical for the creation of new memories; it’s one of the first regions of the brain to deteriorate as we get older – and much more severely in Alzheimer’s disease,’ said project co-leader Michael Yassa, UCI professor and Chancellor’s Fellow of neurobiology behavior.
-
Alzheimer’s ‘world first’ as scientists discover how to…
Men are better at spotting the symptoms of BREAST cancer…
‘Improving the function of the hippocampus holds much promise for improving memory in everyday settings.’
Previously, it was not clear that exercise could affect the brain so quickly.
We knew that exercise boosted the production of new brain cells, but that takes time.
According to Dr Yassa, director of UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and the recently launched UCI Brain Initiative, this study doesn’t disprove what we already knew: they are likely separates processes.
‘We don’t discount the possibility that new cells are being born, but that’s a process that takes a bit longer to unfold,’ he said.
‘What we observed is that these 10-minute periods of exercise showed results immediately afterward.’
‘It’s encouraging to see more people keeping track of their exercise habits – by monitoring the number of steps they’re taking, for example,’ he said.
‘Even short walking breaks throughout the day may have considerable effects on improving memory and cognition.’
Next, Dr Yassa and his colleagues intend to examine older adults who are at greater risk of age-related mental impairment with long-term interventions to determine what amount of exercise, and how regular, has the strongest impact on the brain.
‘Clearly, there is tremendous value to understanding the exercise prescription that best works in the elderly so that we can make recommendations for staving off cognitive decline,’ he said.
-
Adorable newborn orangutan hiccups in its keeper’s arms…
-
Detroit officer is FIRED over ‘zoo animals’ Snapchat…
-
Florida woman arrested for ‘sealing her chihuahua named…
-
Boy, five, accidentally shoots and kills himself with his…
-
Theresa May insists she does trust Donald Trump as she is…
-
Where will the next summit be with Kim Jong-un? Trump…
-
British tourist, 52, is found dead in ‘suspicious’…
-
More than 300 homes are evacuated in Wyoming as massive…
-
Weight Watchers slims down name to WW marking company’s…
-
Politician named ‘Hitler’ is running against a candidate…
-
High school runner, 17, who was left with epilepsy after…
-
Key Republican senator threatens to vote NO on Kavanaugh:…
-
‘Childlike innocence’ of JFK’s eldest sister Rosemary is…
-
EXCLUSIVE: Fancy a McRoyale? Downbeat Thomas Markle…
-
New Jersey sheriff resigns after being caught on secret…
-
Wall Street salaries are at their highest since the 2008…
-
Older Americans are increasingly choosing to ‘unretire,’…
-
Final death toll of storm Florence may not be known for…
Comments 15
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Close
Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.
Close
Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.
You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.