health Even one workout a week improves subjects’ performance in tests of different kinds of intelligence. People and animals who exercise regularly become more attentive and remember information faster and more strongly and do not have any resistant to stress
The simplest explanation is that blood circulates faster through the body when you move, so the brain and other organs get more oxygen. Oxygen is needed for the synthesis of denosyltriphosphoric acid, a universal source of energy. More energy in brain cells means more capacity for mental work.
The brain gets more oxygen if the exercise load does not exceed 80% of the maximum for a person. Blood flows to the head through an artery that branches in two. One branch carries blood to the brain and the other supplies the skin and muscles of the head. If a person receives a moderate load, brain nutrition improves, but if the load is extreme, the main flow of blood is directed to the muscles and skin to remove heat and prevent the brain from overheating. Therefore, excessive exertion for the brain is useless and resistant to stress .
While exercising at home or in the gym, the load level is monitored with a heart rate monitor. First, you need to calculate the maximum heart rate, for example, using Tanaka’s formula “208 – (0.7 * age)”. For a healthy teenager of fifteen, the maximum heart rate would be 208-(0.7*15) =198 beats per minute. So, if there are no contraindications, it is useful for schoolchildren of this age to train in the range of heart rate from 118 to 158 beats – at 60-80% of the limiting frequency.
When we learn new skills, the nerve cells involved in performing them transmit impulses to each other more efficiently. Between these cells, neurons, there is an improvement in conduction in the existing synapses – the places where nerve cells contact each other – and new connections are formed. As a result, the cortex thickens in the areas responsible for performing the skill. When an area of the brain increases in size due to new cells and outgrowths, a person is better able to cope with the tasks for which this cortical area is responsible.
So, anatomically, the brain of an acrobat differs from that of a pianist, and the brain of a taster differs from that of an athlete. Different professions have more developed brain areas: the equilibrist has the area responsible for movement, the musician – for the auditory memory, and the sommelier – for the olfactory area. But even if you do not do anything on purpose, but just run, you can improve your mental abilities and resistant to stress .
In 2006, Dr. Stanley Colcom published an article on the effects of exercise on brain plasticity in older adults. This kind of research is done on older people because they tend to move less and they see better changes after exercise. It turned out that active walking, running, or other aerobic activities have a positive effect on nerve cells.
If you exercise three times a week for an hour, the parts of the brain responsible for memory, decision-making, and concentration increase in volume. Older people who walk slowly for 3 hours a week perform 35% better on IQ tests than peers who walk for 40 minutes.
New cells and the connections between them appear thanks to the protein BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which is actively produced even after the first aerobic exercise. Tests on animals have shown that the amount of BDNF protein is especially important for learning: the more of it, the faster the animal remembers the necessary information. So if there are no thoughts in your head and you’re wondering who can write my essay – just get some exercise in the fresh air. As a rule, already after the first workout, you’ll get some sensible thoughts in your head.
Students regularly face stressful situations: tests, exams, public speaking, conflicts. When stressed and depressed, nerve cells interact poorly with each other, making it harder for a person to cope with intellectual tasks.
Experiments have shown that when animals regularly perform aerobic exercise, they remain more active and curious in unpleasant circumstances. Researchers associate this effect with higher levels of the neuropeptide galanin, which is released after exercise in areas of the brain responsible for dealing with stress.
It is generally accepted that humanity survived and evolved as a species because of intelligence. However, the brain began to evolve significantly after the gluteal muscle, which is essential for running, not walking, was formed.
Unlike animals, humans can run all day long, even in hot climates, and take prey by force. Thanks to the long run, primitive humans were able to corral large herbivores and obtain the meat needed for brain development.
Our animal ancestors thought and ran simultaneously: where to run to find food, what to do if enemies were ahead, where to take shelter from thunderstorms. Modern man does not need to move actively. To live comfortably without serious muscular effort people invented cars, warm clothes, food delivery, and the Internet. But physical activity is still necessary for long and active life. Those who exercise regularly think better and overcome life’s difficulties more easily.
