Sweating promotes brain performance

Regular exercise has a positive effect on the brain

09/19/2013

Those who do sports live healthier lives. Sufficient exercise not only provides for strong muscles, but also has a positive effect on brain performance and can even minimize the risk of stroke or dementia. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the physical activity is so exhausting that you get into a good sweat. Scientists from the Department of Neurology of the Zentralklinik Bad Berka have come to this conclusion.

Meta-analysis shows improved performance through sport
Exercise is not only good for physical health, it also has a positive effect on the brain. What experts emphasize again and again, has now been confirmed by doctors in the context of the 86th Congress of the German Society of Neurology (DGN) in Dresden. Accordingly, a meta-analysis has shown that regular sports can improve memory and memory, said the chief physician of the Department of Neurology of the Central Hospital Bad Berka, Carl Reimers.

Alzheimer's risk reduced by 37 percent
Both short-term and long-term effects can be seen, for example, in older people with regular exercise there is a 37 percent reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's. For mild cognitive deficits even a decline of 46 percent is observed. But not only older people benefit from sport: „The effect is independent of age. Sport and exercise also increase the performance of the brain in adolescents“, supplements Professor Barbara Tettenborn, chief physician of the Department of Neurology at the Cantonal Hospital. Thus even short-term loads of up to one hour would improve information processing and response time. Long-term training could also increase attention, processing speed and memory.

Sweating is required
But to exercise not only the body, but also the brain, a little physical activity alone is not enough. Instead, it's important to make sure you're not completely exhausted, but still trained to make your body sweat. Because according to the experts, it can be assumed that there is a connection between an increased ability to think and blood circulation. As soon as the performance of the heart and vessels increases, the brain gets more nutrients and becomes more powerful. In contrast, the relaxation exercises could not increase performance.

Own influence on brain health should be used more
According to the speaker of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Dresden, Professor Gerd Kempermann, the health of old age depends on many factors - genetic as well as environmental. But the own possibilities are not to be underestimated after Kempermann, because „we have a not inconsiderable share in our own hands: exercise and physical activity are a simple, literally side-effect-free recipe for memory loss in old age, which we should use much more.“ (No)

Image: Maria Lanznaster