Decades of research have discovered that exercise is helpful for overall fitness and health, helping with everything from helping you sleep better to lowering your risk of heart disease.
According to a new study, exercising could also help boost memory, with the results lasting up to a day after the session.
The small study, recently published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, analyzed data from 76 individuals aged 50 to 83 who took cognitive tests daily and wore activity trackers for eight days. Researchers discovered that individuals who did more vigorous to moderate physical activity than usual on any day performed better the next day in memory tests.
Being active overall additionally seemed to help. Individuals who spent less time than usual sitting and logged six additional hours more sleep also had better scores on memory tests.
The discoveries could have significant implications for everyone, including older adults “where it’s very important to understand factors that could maintain daily cognitive function,” said lead study author and senior research fellow at University College London, Mikaela Bloomberg.
But what is behind this link, and how much exercise should you do to get the benefits?
Why might exercise boost your brain?
It’s key to point out that this is not the first study to link better memory with exercise. Prior research has discovered that people perform better on memory tests in the hours following exercise; however, many studies haven’t nailed down how long those perks continue.
Doctors state a few things might be behind the boost to memory from exercise. “Exercise leads to increased blood flow and stimulation of neurotransmitters thought to contribute to improvements in cognitive function,” says Bloomberg.
Exercise can additionally prompt the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus — an area of the brain critical for learning and memory — sports neurologist and founding director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, Dr. Vernon Williams said. “Exercise also promotes neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections and reorganize itself,” he says.
Williams says that exercise can even help lower brain inflammation, which is linked to cognitive decline.
How much exercise should you do?
Researchers did not discover an exact number of exercises necessary to benefit the brain. “We just looked at when people did more physical activity than their usual,” says Bloomberg.
“Regardless of their current level of physical activity, doing more was better.” So, if you work out regularly for 30 minutes, adding on an additional five minutes of exercise could help you feel mentally sharp over the next 24 hours.
In the study, more vigorous or moderate physical activity than usual was tied to better working memory and memory of events the following day. Also worth noting: Spending more time than usual being sedentary was linked to worse working memory the following day.
Why does it matter?
Bloomberg emphasizes that her study was small, which makes it difficult to draw too much from the findings without additional research. However, she also says there could be real-world ways to use the results to your advantage.
For older adults, an exercise routine may help boost memory and keep people sharp as they age. If you have an upcoming big presentation or test, ensuring you exercise at some point the day before “couldn’t hurt” when it comes to enhancing your memory, says Bloomberg.
While this study discovered that working out more than usual had an impact, Williams says having a regular exercise routine is essential for memory and brain health. “There is also likely some cognitive stimulation associated with regular physical activity that may also play a beneficial role,” he says.
What’s the best kind of exercise for your memory?
This study discovered that you don’t need to do anything extreme to get a boost in your memory from exercise. According to Bloomberg, exercises that fall into the “moderate intensity” or higher category, such as jogging, brisk walking, or cycling, helped boost memory.
However, other research has discovered more intense exercises can also help. For example, a recent study published in Communications Psychology determined that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and cycling were most likely to help boost executive function, memory, attention, information processing, and other cognitive functions.
All in all, Bloomberg says research makes a case for continuing to be active as you age. “There are many health reasons why older adults should integrate physical activity into their daily lives, and there is certainly evidence to suggest that doing so might contribute to maintenance of cognitive function as we age,” she says.
