Posts Tagged ‘scientific-american’
Exercise and The Brain in Newsweek
The new edition of Newsweek brings us a great cover story titled Stronger, Faster, Smarter. “Exercise does more than build muscles and help prevent heart disease. New science shows that it also boosts brainpower—and may offer hope in the battle against Alzheimer’s.” Check it out! We addressed the question Is physical fitness important to your brain…
Read MoreIs physical fitness important to your brain fitness?
Here is question 18 of 25 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions.Question:Is physical fitness important?Key Points: Exercise improves learning through increased blood supply and growth hormones.Exercise is an anti-depressant by reducing stress and promoting neurogenesis.Exercise protects the brain from damage and disease, as well speeding the recovery.Answer:Yes. According to Fred Gage, PhD, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, “We now know that exercise helps generate new brain cells, even in the aging brain.”According to the research of Richard Smeyne, PhD at Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, with just two months of exercise there are more brain cells and that higher levels of exercise were significantly more beneficial than lower amounts, although any exercise was better than none.
Read MoreBrain Training and SharpBrains in the news
Several recent stories on brain training and SharpBrains: 1) New brain games may improve mind fitness by Kevin Kosterman (U of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s Advance-Titan) “Anytime we learn, we are training, changing, our brain,” Fernandez said. “The three key core elements for effective brain exercise are novelty, variety and constant challenge, similar to increasing the level…
Read MoreI don’t want to ever retire. What can I do to remain sharp?
Question 15 of 25 from Brain Fitness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Questions. I don’t want to ever retire. What can I do to remain sharp? Provide your brain with regular mental stimulation that is novel and challenging.Maintain your social network for both stimulation and stress reduction.Work out, eat well, stimulate your brain, and reduce chronic stress.Any good brain fitness program must provide you a variety of new challenges over time. Stress reduction is another major concern. Maintaining your exercise routine and social networks will help a lot in this regard. Make social appointments to go for a walk with a friend or family member.
Read MoreNeurogenesis and How Learning Saves Your Neurons
Jon Barron’s blog highlighted this recent press release from The Society for Neuroscience. For decades, it was believed that the adult brain did not produce new neurons after birth. But that notion has been dispelled by research in the last ten years. It became clear by the mid- to late-1990’s that the brain does, in…
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