With the recent anatomy practicum and upcoming finals, I was looking into articles regarding our brain's ability to remember the copious amount of details students have to remember and what can be done to improve our memory. Recent studies have shown that exercising 4 hours after learning new information plays a role in improve cognitive memory. Van Dongen et al. (2016) tested 3 groups of participants on picture location association and had them undergo physical aerobic exercise immediately after learning, and 4 hours after their learning session. It was found that the participants who exercised 4 hours after their learning session were able to recall the information a week later when they were tested on the material. They also determined that having a delay duration of exercise after learning new information increases hippocampal pattern (Van Dongen et al., 2016). Other studies have also shown that exercising regularly cognitive functions (Winter B et al., 2007).
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/remember-something-new-exercise
Eelco V. van Dongen, Ingrid H.P. Kersten, Isabella C. Wagner, Richard G.M. Morris, Guillén Fernández. (2016) "Physical Exercise Performed Four Hours after Learning Improves Memory Retention and Increases Hippocampal Pattern Similarity during Retrieval", Current Biology. 26 (13). 1722-1727.
Winter B., Breitenstein C., Mooren F.C., Voelker K., Fobker M., Lechtermann A., Krueger K., Fromme A., Korsukewitz C., Floel A. Knecht S. (2007) "High impact running improves learning." Neurobiol. Learn. Mem., 87: 597-609
Tommy,
ReplyDeleteNo wonder I haven't been acing those anatomy tests; I'm exercising BEFORE lecture and not after! This is some really interesting research, I always enjoy learning about the new benefits that exercise can induce in an individual. I found another study that linked exercise to improving cognition and function in individual's with Alzheimer's disease (Yu et al., 2006). This study focused on aerobic exercise as well, and their results showed that aerobic exercise can delay the β- amyloid accumulation indicative in AD as well as stimulate gene expression for growth factors important for neurotransmitter function in the hippocampus (Yu et al., 2006). It's suggested that these functional improvements could potentially delay further decline in memory, therefore having a positive implication on their quality of life. I will definitely be sure to start exercising from now on AFTER the remainder of our lectures this semester (better late than never, right?)
Yu, F., Kolanowski, A. M., Strumpf, N. E., & Eslinger, P. J. (2006). Improving Cognition and Function Through Exercise Intervention in Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 38(4), 358–365. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2006.00127.x