Cover story
We are finally getting to grips with how exercise boosts your brain and how we can all work out smarter to reap the benefits, say Catherine de Lange
IN JANUARY, I set myself a resolution: to master the humble chin-up. I have never had much upper body strength, and I knew it would be hard, but that is OK, I thought, because I am not doing this to get stronger or fitter. I am doing this for my brain.
Like a lot of people, I used to exercise to stay physically fit. But a few years ago, while writing my book Brain Power: Everything you need to know for a healthy, happy brain, I dug into the literature on exercise and the mind. What I discovered changed my relationship with exercise forever.
It is no secret that exercise is good for the brain as well as the body. But the past decade has seen an explosion of research into just how transformational it can be, whether it is improving children’s academic performance, boosting mood and memory in adults or even protecting us from cognitive decline. “It seems to be one of the most important things you can do for the brain,” says David Lubans at the University of Newcastle, Australia. “I think much less about the physical benefits. It’s all about feeling good and optimising my brain functioning.”
Scientists like Lubans are now turning their attention to how and why exercise has such powerful effects on the mind. What they are finding is teasing apart what really works and showing us how we can best capitalise on the brain-boosting powers of physical exertion.
One of the first pieces of evidence that linked exercise and the brain came in the 1990s, when geneticist Fred Gage found that exercise could lead to the growth of new brain cells in mice. Since then, studies have shown that exercise produces chemicals that make it easier for new brain cells to communicate and that it is one of the few things that can stimulate new brain cell growth in humans too, particularly in areas of the cortex vital for learning, memory and mood.
Mood is a good place to start if you want to see how exercise can impact the brain. As any regular exerciser can attest, moving the body provides an instant tonic for the mind. Even a single session can leave people feeling more positive for several hours, and more energetic.
Medicine for the mind
When it comes to mental health conditions, things are less straightforward. There is strong evidence that exercise is an effective treatment for mild and moderate depression, especially in adolescents. But in adults, results are mixed. There are also questions about how much exercise is needed to experience the benefits. Is exercise even a universal medicine? Or is it more like a medicine cabinet, with different people needing a specific type and dose?
To find out more, Sammi Chekroud at the University of Oxford and his colleagues analysed information from 1.2 milli
