Got a work assignment you really need to nail? Then it might be worth lacing up your trainers and heading out for a mind-clearing run before your deadline because, according to a new study, exercise can ‘significantly improve’ mental performance.
. Professor Brendon Stubbs then measured their mental performance with a range of cognitive tests and wellbeing questionnaires over the four months.
“We all know that exercise is good for our mental and physical health but the impact on cognitive functioning has been less explored. We wanted to examine the effects of exercise on people who depend on their cognitive abilities – competitive mind gamers. Our results show significant improvements in their cognitive functioning, including concentration levels and problem-solving abilities,” he explains.
So, what is it about relatively modest amounts of exercise that is so beneficial to brain function? Dr Stubbs says that movement stimulates cell growth in the brain and rapidly increases blood flow to the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, mechanisms that “enable us to better retain memories, process information and problem solve quickly”.Perhaps most exciting is the fact that this study wasn’t conducted on super-fit individuals.
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