This is Your Brain on Exercise

Everyone knows exercise is good for your body, but did you know it’s just as essential for your brain health?

Research shows physical activity doesn’t just help your heart and boost your mood. It also enhances memory, executive function, sleep and even reduces your risk of dementia. When people ask James E. Galvin, M.D., M.P.H., a neurology expert at the University of Miami Health System, how to reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s, his answer is simply to exercise more.

“If you don’t move, then start to walk. If you already walk, walk more. Physical activity is the most powerful way to reduce our risk of Alzheimer’s disease and improve our brain health,” he says.

What research says about your brain and movement

Whether walking, weightlifting or even dancing, exercise directly impacts your brain health in several powerful ways. “Exercise promotes brain health by improving cerebral blood flow and reducing chronic inflammation, which are both risk factors for dementia,” says Magdalena Tolea, Ph.D., associate director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health.

How does exercise help your brain?

• Improves memory and thinking: Whether it’s aerobic or strength training, exercising regularly can improve your executive function, visual and spatial memory and working memory.

• Promotes new brain cell growth: When you contract your muscles, your body releases special proteins called myokines that stimulate neuron growth in your brain.

• Boosts brain circulation: Exercise increases nitric oxide, which improves your brain’s health by dilating blood vessels and encouraging new capillaries.

Recent research from the team shows that cognitive changes show up early in physical ways. For example, a slight balance change in older adults is an early indicator of neurodegenerative disease.

“There’s a correlation with increasing activity versus sedentary behavior. People who are more sedentary in general are more likely to have dementia,” says Amie Rosenfeld, PT, DPT, ABPTS GCS, a researcher at the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health at the University of Miami Health System.

Changes in other physical performance measures can predict more severe cognitive impairment, including:

• Gait speed
• Step length
• Percentage of walking cycle spent on each leg

Another study by Dr. Tolea found that sarcopenia, aging-related muscle loss, is an indicator of cognitive impairment that could be used by doctors to identify patients at risk of developing dementia.

Different exercises have different benefits.

Both cardio and strength training improve brain health, but in slightly different ways. “You want to have both so they complement each other,” says Rosenfeld.

Cardio helps your memory center.

When you do cardio exercises like walking, biking or swimming, your blood flow increases, especially to a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is important for memory and learning. More blood flow there means better brain function.

Strength training supports brain structure.

When you lift weights or do resistance exercises like pushups or squats, this helps strengthen brain cells called glial cells that keep your brain healthy and running smoothly. It also helps slow down a type of brain shrinkage called white matter atrophy that can happen with aging.

Muscle matters, especially after 50.

As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass, a condition called sarcopenia. This decline starts around age 30 and accelerates after 50. “From the age of 30, we lose 3 to 8% of our muscle fibers per decade. By 80, we’re down to half the fibers we had,” says Rosenfeld.

Muscles aren’t just for strength. Muscles help with the following:

• Regulate your metabolism
• Reduce visceral fat (a risk factor for a common type of dementia caused by damaged blood vessels in the brain)
• Support cognitive resilience

“People over the age of 50 chronically under-train their muscles. If I could wave a magic wand, I would push older adults more toward resistance work,” says Rosefeld.

It’s never too late to get started.

Rosenfeld recommends the following for a weekly exercise routine to improve your brain health:

• 2–3 strength training sessions per week
• At least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio

If you’re new to strength training, start with bodyweight resistance exercises like squats, lunges, sit-to-stands and tricep dips. “That tends to be safer and easier to start than free weights,” says Rosenfeld.

Talk to your doctor before beginning a new workout routine if you have orthopedic issues.

How exercise improves mood, sleep, and cognition.

Just 10 minutes of moderate exercise can offer mood-boosting benefits. “You’ve got all these mood-elevating chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin that get released when you get moving,” says Rosefeld. 

These chemicals send signals through a nerve called the vagus nerve, which tells your body it’s safe to relax. Simply put, exercise helps your body switch from fight-or-flight to rest-and-recharge.

Any movement is beneficial, but the activities you choose can have additional benefits.

Get outside.

Exercising outside also improves your sleep, which also benefits brain health. “Walking outside instead of on a treadmill exposes you to sunlight that helps regulate your circadian rhythm and boosts melatonin production so you sleep better,” says Rosenfeld.

Falling into deep sleep helps your brain flush out toxins, which supports memory and prevents cognitive decline.

Try Zumba or kickboxing.

Activities that involve complex, coordinated movement patterns stimulate areas of your brain responsible for motor planning and spatial awareness. “Learning choreography increases the communication between the hippocampus and the parietal lobe,” says Rosenfeld.

Consider dual-tasking.

One of the most promising areas of brain research is “dual-tasking,” which means doing two things at once. This could be walking while talking, solving math problems or naming states out loud.

Research has shown that dual-tasking improves cognitive function. “After exercise, when your brain is flooded with all those helpful hormones, add a cognitive task to boost the benefits of the exercise,” says Rosenfeld.

Rosenfeld finds that patients are more motivated to get moving once they realize exercise benefits the brain as well as the body. “A big fear of our older adults is developing cognitive deficits. When I talk about exercise as brain protection, that empowers and motivates people.”

So find a friend. Take your dog for a walk. Join a dance class.

The most important thing is to keep moving. “There’s nothing quite like exercise for improving so many facets of our lives and our bodies,” says Rosenfeld.

Written by Wendy Margolin, a contributor for UHealth’s news service.

Tags: Amie Rosenfeld, brain health, Brain-boosting exercises, Cognitive enhancement, cognitive health, Dr. James Galvin, Neuroprotective benefits