Physical exercises are recommended for every person, the main thing – choose the right type and intensity of training. It's no secret that exercise, along with nutrition and the ability to deal with stress, – the key to the health of the body. And if the body is healthy, the psycho-emotional health of a person is also noticeably strengthened. Today estet-portal.com will share information that will help you realize how useful regular exercises are for the brain. We will also explain how physical activity helps to solve the problem of the lack of neurotransmitters, which play an important role in the transmission of nerve impulses through synapses.
Brain Benefits of Exercise: Increased Neurotransmitter Levels
Research from the UC Davis Health System explains why bodywork – it is also a great exercise for the brain. Researchers have elucidated important mechanisms of brain metabolism that are associated with the treatment of depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders caused by neurotransmitter deficiency.
Clinical depression is often characterized by a decrease in glutamate and GABA levels, which return to normal after mental health is restored. So says Richard Maddock, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science. The study showed that exercise activates the metabolic pathways needed to increase these neurotransmitters.
The study also helps answer an important question about the brain – an energy-intensive organ that during exercise requires a large amount of fuel in the form of glucose and other carbohydrates, – where does the excess of this fuel go?
In terms of metabolism, intense brain exercise – a rather complex activity, for which the most important organ of our body requires more effort than doing calculations or even playing chess. However, no one knows what exactly the brain needs energy for during exercise. Now there is reason to believe that part of the energy that the brain spends is spent on the production of neurotransmitters.
These results help to understand the complexity of brain metabolism, and also confirm that a sedentary lifestyle is detrimental to the brain, which also plays an important role in human physical endurance.
"We can't quite understand why we get the most out of our workouts or feel deadly tired when we train. We often think that the reason for this is a lack of oxygen and energy in the muscles. However, this phenomenon can be partly explained by the fact that it was the brain that reached its limit, – shared his thoughts Maddock.
Exercise for the brain as a way to fight depression
To understand how important exercise is for the brain, a team of researchers followed 38 healthy volunteers. Participants in the study were asked to exercise on an exercise bike. To measure the levels of glutamate and GABA, the researchers took a series of images of the brain using the most powerful MRI scanner (3 Tesla).
Shots of two different parts of the brain were taken immediately before and after intensive training lasting from 8 to 20 minutes. After that, they were compared with pictures of the control group, which did not exercise. Increases in glutamate and GABA levels have been observed in the visual cortex of "athletes", which processes visual information, as well as in the anterior cingulate cortex, which helps regulate heart rate, some cognitive functions, and emotions.
It was found that the level of glutamate in the brain depends on the regularity of exercise. The researchers themselves call the findings a little premature, but very promising.
The authors of the study say that it may be possible to use exercise as an alternative therapy for depression, especially in patients under 25 years of age. The fact is that it is in this age group that side effects are often observed from taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antidepressants that regulate serotonin levels in the brain.
Further research aims to find out how effective less intense brain exercise, such as wrestling, is and to determine what types of physical activity are most beneficial to the brain.
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