How your brain heals with exercise . . .

If you’re like most people these days, you

probably know that regular exercise does your body good.  You know that exercise can help you gain physical strength, lose weight, improve your cardiovascular endurance and obtain that summer “beach body” that you’ve been dreaming about while sleep.  You may also know about the various benefits of exercise for your health such as how it will help you to lower your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels.   It certainly is all over the news these days on T.V., online and media advertisements.  However, you rarely hear about how exercise is a critical element in helping you to heal your brain.  Beyond building a better “beach body” and being great for your heart, exercise is important for  protecting, building and healing  your most important muscle – your brain!

Several human and animal studies strongly suggest that exercise induces neurogenesis (i.e., the production of new brain neurons and synaptic connections), protects your brain against strokes, and helps you to preserve your memories to avoid having those senior moments.^1,2,3,4  Exercise promotes the production of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and other nerve growth factors like glial cell derived neurotropic factor (GDNF), helps to raise the circulating levels of proteins like FNDC5 and helps to stimulate angio­gen­e­sis (i.e., the formation of new blood vessels that help  to improve cerebral blood flow) so it will help to repair damaged brain cells.⁵   Many of these effects have been demonstrated in people with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.^2,6,7 
So if you’re concerned about preserving your brain health and want to avoid having those  regrettable senior moments, it is important that you exercise regularly.  Although the research suggests that more vigorous exercise like sprinting and doing tabata training  seems to lead to greater benefits, simply walking briskly with conscious awareness (mindful walking) 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes will help you to build a better brain.  

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist  and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and wellbeing, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

1. Cotman, CW &  Berchtold, NC. “Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity.” TRENDS in Neurosciences.  (2002). 25 (6), 295-301. 
2. Doidge, N. The Brain's Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity.  (2015).
3. Hayes, K, Sprague, S, Guo, M, Davis, W, Friedman, A, Kumar, A, et al. “Forced, not voluntary, exercise effectively induces neuroprotection in stroke.”  Acta Neuropathologica. (2008)115, 289–296. 
4. Praag,H, Kempermann, G & Gage, FH. “Running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus” Nature Neuroscience. (1999). 2, 266 – 270. 
5. Huh, JY, Panagiotou, G, Mougios, V, Brinkoetter, M, Vamvini, MT, Schneider, BE, et al.   “FNDC5 and irisin in humans: I. Predictors of circulating concentrations in serum and plasma and II. mRNA expression and circulating concentrations in response to weight loss and exercise.”  Metabolism. (2012) 61 (12), 1725-38. 
6.  Ahlskog, JE.   “Does vigorous exercise have a neuroprotective effect in Parkinson disease?” Neurology.  (2011). 77 (3), 288 – 294. 
7. Gold, SM, Schulz, KH, Hartmann, S, Mladek, M, Lang, UE, Hellweg, R, et al. Basal serum levels and reactivity of nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor to standardized acute exercise in multiple sclerosis and controls  Journal of Neuroimmunology. (2003). 138, (1–2), 99-105.

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