A research has been reviewed which revealed a wide variety of health benefits of working out. Even a single workout session can have so many health benefits. Single workout is known as acute exercise. New York university team carried out a research, which studied both humans and animals to understand better how a single workout can have positive impacts on your brain and how the changes are long-lasting. There has already been a number of research and studies regarding health benefits of exercise and its impacts on various functions of brain like mood, memory, attention, reaction as well as creativity.
“Exercise interventions are currently being used to help address everything from cognitive impairments in normal aging, minimal cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease to motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease and mood states in depression,” says Wendy A Suzuki, principal investigator of the new study, “Our review highlights the neural mechanisms and pathways by which exercise might produce these clinically relevant effects.”
The researchers analysed a wide range of brain imaging and electrophysiological studies, including electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). They also studied the neurochemical studies, neurotransmitter studies and neuromodulator studies. The team drew the following three inferences from the review.
- They concluded that acute exercise can improve the executive function, a mental process to achieve goals, enhance mood and manage stress levels.
- Neurophysiological and neurochemical changes after acute exercise represent that many areas of brain are activated after a workout session.
- The most important impact of workout on brain was the change in neurochemical levels including neurotransmitters, metabolites, growth factors and neuromodulators. But this part of the research requires more investigation as it was mainly observed in mice.
The researchers concluded that acute exercises can help in delaying the decay of cognitive decline in older people, boost the mood and ADHD symptoms in patient. It can also be deployed as a tool to combat depression and anxiety related disorders.
