New study shows surprise link between exercise and brain health
We all know exercise is great for the body, but a new study is shedding light on just how beneficial it can be for your brain.
New research from Victoria University is linking higher physical activity with a much lower risk of age related mental decline.
We all know exercise is great for the body, but a new study is shedding light on just how beneficial it can be for your brain. Getty Images/iStockphoto
In fact, Dr James Broatch is one of those involved in the study and he told Today “lifestyle interventions like exercise, good sleep hygiene and nutrition” can actually promote some resilience in the brain and even reduce risk of dementia in late life.
“What this research is looking at in particular, is this system that we have in the brain that operates during sleep, called the Glymphatic system... it basically works to flush our brain and essentially clean the brain out from all the waste products that are accumulated during the day when our brains are quite active,” Dr Broatch said.
“Sleep is critical for brain health and general health, yet what we’ve found with this research is that exercise might act essentially like a tune up for the system... so what exercise is doing to the body, but also to the brain can maybe increase the effectiveness of this, I guess, kind of waste clearance system.”
It’s one thing to tell yourself you need to exercise more to decrease cognitive decline, but where do you start?
Dr Broatch suggests finding something you can keep up regularly that you know you will stick to.
“If you can start to create small habits, whether it’s parking the car a bit further away and walking into work or taking the stairs, these small habits can really compound and have a really profound effect on the brain, particularly as we age when these systems like the Glymphatic system, start to decline,” he said.
World Health Organisation guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardiorespiratory exercise and two resistance training sessions a week, with some balancing exercises as well.
“Obviously, this is a big commitment and people might not hit those targets, so I think, if you can get a combination of those types of exercise throughout the week, and any exercise is better than no exercise,” Dr Broatch said.
“So anything you can do, particularly in midlife as we start to get older, really sets you up for promoting some resilience in the brain and really trying to reduce that risk of dementia in late life.”
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