Boost brain health with just 30 minutes of exercise

For every 30-minute increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, “working memory” – the ability to both hold temporarily and manipulate information – improved by five per cent. “Episodic memory” – the ability to store and retrieve information – also improved by just over two per cent.

Less time spent sitting and six hours or more of sleep were also linked to better memory scores the next day, as did more deep (slow-wave) sleep. Psychomotor speed – how quickly a person detects and responds to the environment – improved as well. Conversely, more time being sedentary was linked to worse working memory the next day.

The findings were especially notable because participants were already cognitively healthy and could not improve by much more on these tests.

What is moderate to vigorous exercise?

Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, of UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, the study’s lead author, said: ‘Moderate or vigorous activity means anything that gets your heart rate up – this could be brisk walking, dancing or walking up a few flights of stairs. It doesn’t have to be structured exercise.

Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and stimulates the release of neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and dopamine, which helps a range of cognitive functions. Previous research has also said that HIIT treadmill running enhanced spatial memory and significantly increased the concentration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important protein that contributes to the development and function of brain neurons.

What does this mean for us?

‘Our findings suggest that the short-term memory benefits of physical activity may last longer than previously thought, possibly to the next day instead of just the few hours after exercise,’ Dr Bloomberg continued. ‘Getting more sleep, particularly deep sleep, seems to add to this memory improvement.

‘The improvement is relatively small, but notable particularly in a study population that is very cognitively healthy, so there’s just not that much room for them to improve on these tests.’

Study co-author Professor Andrew Steptoe, also from UCL, said: ‘Among older adults, maintaining cognitive function is important for good quality of life, wellbeing, and independence. It’s therefore helpful to identify factors that can affect cognitive health on a day-to-day basis.’

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