Power-Train Your Brain

YOU KNOW EXERCISE IS GREAT for your body and mood. But new research is showing that it can have an equally profound effect on your thinking skills. “Working out is one of the most powerful things you can do to strengthen the brain,” says Wendy Suzuki, Ph.D., a professor of neural science and psychology at New York University. “A single workout triggers physiological changes that improve mental function,” she says. You don’t have to go all out, either. “Taking a walk stimulates the release of serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, and endorphins and makes you feel calmer and happier,” Suzuki explains. Those effects last for several hours, but if you hit the gym regularly, they may persist long term. Exercise trains you to push yourself when your body is telling you to stop, and that may help you remain calm when under pressure, research from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, found. Working out also triggers the production of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that builds the brain’s resilience to stress.

- Kelly Mickle

The effects of exercise are so powerful, in fact, that some research indicates it could regulate mood as successfully as antidepressants. A 20-minute bike ride raises levels of glutamate and GABA, two neurotransmitters that help the brain bounce back from negative emotions, a recent study at the UC Davis Medical Center found.

Along with making you happier, your workouts are growing your brain— literally. As you sweat, fatty acids in your system break down into ketone bodies. These molecules activate the gene responsible for producing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), according to research from New York University. “BDNF spurs the creation of new brain cells, helps nerve cells communicate, and strengthens brain synapses to improve reaction time, memory, and decision-making,” says study author Moses V. Chao, Ph.D.

Exercise also increases volume in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that regulates memory, by 2 percent each year, researchers from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana report. “The new cells and increased neural connections improve long-term and short-term memory,” says study author Arthur Kramer, Ph.D. People who didn’t exercise lost 1.4 percent of volume in the same area. Bottom line: Being sedentary may be as risky for your mind as having the Alzheimer’s genes, he says.

Make your brain the sharpest and strongest it can be with these mind- and muscle- building strategies.

RUN THE GAMUT