Unlike what we have always been led to believe, exercise and intellectual activity are not opposed. In no way. Intellect and physical activity are allies , not enemies, and together they contribute to our psychophysical well -being . Let’s discover together how physical exercise for the brain represents a constant source of benefits and advantages for your psychophysical well-being .
If we could go back half a billion years, we would discover a surprising truth: movement and the brain are intimately linked by a precise evolutionary reason. Because the nervous system does not initially emerge to produce thoughts or process emotions. These are later and perhaps unexpected developments. Evolution at the outset devises a tool to generate and regulate movement .
Jellyfish and sea anemones are the first animals where an embryonic brain appears. The aim is to regulate movement because being able to actively direct oneself towards nourishment represents an immeasurable advantage in terms of survival. From these events half a billion years ago originates the strong bond that still today unites our brain to motor activity.
The link between thought and body
We have little awareness of this link. Also because we are children of a culture that has always separated body and mind, thought and matter, associating them with an order of values. Above, sublime and free from heavy materiality, thought . Below, immersed in the darkness of sin, the body . For the first researchers who dealt with it, it was therefore disconcerting to discover that this is not quite the case. And that the activity of the brain is enhanced and enhanced by the work of the body.
This prejudice began to falter over twenty years ago with the discovery that exercise is voluntaryraised levels of brain neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a substance capable of promoting the growth and survival of new neurons and synapses. The initial discovery occurred in rodents. Laboratory mice that could run on a wheel inside their cages had new neuron formation in the hippocampus, a part of the brain strongly linked to the ability to memorize data. Later these discoveries were extended to the human population.
A large amount of subsequent research has shown that, thanks to exercise, a structural increase (in terms of volume and connectivity) occurs in some key areas of the brain. And it has also been found that cognitive functions – memory, attention, concentration, planning –they are enhanced by regular physical activity . To such an extent that physical exercise is now considered one of the main protective factors of the brain against aging and degenerative diseases. One of the factors that best contribute to the psychophysical well -being of our body.
Psychophysical well-being: physical activity and cognitive functions
Among the many researches that have led to these conclusions, I will mention one in particular because it seems to me to be of great relevance in times of lockdown. In a work published in 2001, Dr. Kristine Yaffe and colleagues at South California University studied 5,925 middle-aged women over a period of 6-8 years, regularly measuring their cognitive functions. The results of the study showed that the most physically active women were also those who experienced the least decline in cognitive function .
One surprising detail is that the level of physical activity was not measured by the number of grueling trainings the ladies underwent. The number of blocks traveled daily (each of which was estimated to have a length of about 155 meters) was simply counted, as well as the floors of stairs made. It is no coincidence that the title under which the study was published was: “Walking women – A prospective study of physical activity and decline in mature women”.
The actuality of the study lies in demonstrating that the brain reacts positively even to very simple motor stimulationsand within everyone’s reach, even in times of lockdown. In other words, I’m saying that if we are motivated to keep our brains in shape and want to slow down its functional decline, there is no excuse. We can begin to do so even with a few and very simple means available.
Exercises that stimulate our psychophysical well-being
Being able to choose which are the best types of exercises to maintain and increase cognitive functions
Kramer et al. (2006) argue that combined programs of aerobic exercise , strength and flexibilityare the most effective, assuming that they stimulate a wide spectrum of different neuronal and chemical adaptations. Such programs can also be implemented at home. By putting together a pair of dumbbells, a mat, and the ability to walk up a flight of stairs, use a treadmill or stationary bike, you can assemble an infinite number of home combined exercise programs .
Several studies also underline the fundamental importance of coordination and balance exercises to stimulate the brain . These are also exercises that require more will than equipment, and that you can indulge yourself in including at will in your home program. Furthermore, let us not forget that brain well -being requires thephysical activity is combined with proper nutrition . The interactions between exercise and nutrition were developed in a monumental research titled “Exercise: Something to Chew” and published in Trends in Neuroscience by Henriette Van Praag, a pioneer of neuroplasticity studies.
Dr. Praag demonstrates that for the effects of physical exercise to manifest themselves, the presence of some nutrients is necessary. For example, you cite a study by the University of California that documents how physical exercise leads to an increase in cerebral microcirculation only if the body has nitric oxide available, the endogenous mediator responsible for vasodilation, which we synthesize from the amino acid. arginine. Combining the right diet with exercise is therefore essential if you want to optimize the positive effects on the brain. Among the nutrients important to obtain these effects, research cites flavonoids, fish oil fats, folates, vitamins.
Therefore, if in this period you choose to give up moving out of laziness or despair, you must know that this will have a cost. Not only in terms of silhouette, but also for your brain. Your general psychophysical well-being will be affected. Indeed, brain decline appears to scientists to be increasingly connected to the lack of movement . According to a recent and suggestive model based on the theory of evolution applied to neuroscience, exploring the environment to go in search of food stimulated a continuous neurogenesis in the brains of our ancestors. Maintaining such an active brain – as well as having active muscles – cost a lot of energy.
So, in the event of a reduction in activity (due to injuries, diseases, etc.), evolution has invented muscle atrophy and brain decline. A sort of temporary shutdown of the car while waiting for the green light. An excellent “trick” to survive, saving energy while waiting to leave, which today has become dysfunctional because the stop is no longer momentary. It has become permanent and is called sedentary. At this point you know how things stand and you have no more excuses: the choice is yours.
