For the first time, scientists have been able to compare head-to-head the way three different exercises impact the brain. Although the study was done in rats, and not humans, the implications of the findings are still provocative.
Published this month in the Journal of Physiology, researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland and other institutions gathered a large group of adult male rats and looked at the neurological impacts of three different types of exercise: running, weight training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). To determine which exercise was most beneficial to the brain, the scientists measured the animals’ levels of neurogenesis, which is the creation of new brain cells in an already mature brain.
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You can read the specifics of the experiments on the NY Times blog, but here’s what the scientists concluded: sustained aerobic exercise might be most beneficial for brain health in humans. The next beneficial is HIIT, and weight training made no discernible difference.
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The researchers surmise that the reason running was so effective is that distance running stimulates the release of a particular substance in the brain known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor that is known to regulate neurogenesis. The more miles an animal runs, the more B.D.N.F. it produces.
It’s important to note that these results do not mean that only running and similar moderate endurance workouts strengthen the brain. There’s a good chance that weight training and high-intensity intervals lead to different types of changes elsewhere in the brain that weren’t measured in the experiment.
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If you currently weight train or exclusively work out with intense intervals, continue. But maybe also add in an occasional run or bike ride for the sake of your brain.
Curated article from:
NY Times
