By It’s so easy, and all you need is a few minutes per day
Ever have problems remembering even the simplest things? What about recalling your mobile number? Sometimes remembering gold nuggets in a conversation can leave as fast as we uttered. Our memories will fail us at some stage — and most people blame it on age. The good news is that you can abolish that notion right away. Eating the wrong food can cause memory lapses in many people (think brain fog & lethargy), but what about becoming physically active? Do you do some exercise daily? A study of 36 young adults found that a single period of mild exertion can provide some cognitive benefits. These results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The hippocampus is where the creation of new memories comes about. Unfortunately, this is the first part of the brain that declines as we age and is severely affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Improving the function of the hippocampus holds the key to improving our memory. The director of UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory found that exercise promotes the generation of new brain cells in memory regions -and it pretty much happens straight away. It also strengthens the communication between memory focused parts of the brain. 10 minute periods of exercise showed new cells being born immediately! This is excellent news for us, active people. Could it be as simple as taking a 10–20 minute walk three times a day to benefit our brain cells? Yassa, the director of UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, says it’s encouraging. We must keep track of our daily steps and keep a keen eye on those exercise habits closely. Even those short breaks I mentioned above can help improve our memory and cognition throughout the day. This explains why walking away from a creative block can increase our chances of finding an appropriate solution (or doing some form of exercise). For those who have elderly and more frail parents, please encourage them to walk short distances regularly (with supervision if needed, of course). This will stop age-related mental impairment and positively impact the brain’s structure and function. So, in light of this, you can be sure that one of the best ways to stave off cognitive decline is to put your sneakers on and go for a regular walk. How many times do you walk every day? References: You can read more here and view the references to the content of this article.
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