Sports will help you become smarter and keep your sanity in old age

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Either smart or handsome? Research shows that the old adage is shamelessly lying. Tasks and logic puzzles alone are not enough to increase the level of intelligence. The real guardian of our mind is sport.

Obviously, we can build muscle by constantly exercising and increasing endurance. But can you get smarter by doing this?

The significance of this issue is beyond doubt. One universal aging that everyone experiences is cognitive decline.

The area of the brain, which is key for memory functioning, decreases by 1–2% annually starting at the age of 55.

It is not surprising that people so persistently turn their attention to all kinds of drugs "for the mind", vitamins and medicines that promise to preserve the normal functioning of the brain even in old age.

The very idea that you can develop your mental abilities seems seductive and optimistic. After all, the brain never stops learning and changing throughout life. Such a property as neuroplasticity helps him adapt to the influence of external stimuli. Maybe we should use this to develop our own cognitive skills?

Games and tasks don't work

A few years ago, the BBC and the University of Cambridge had a massive study looking at the possibility of brain training. The question that interested them was about gymnastics for the mind: can it really make you smarter?

For the test, about 11 thousand people were selected who were engaged in solving problems for six weeks, every day for 10 minutes. The subjects were divided into three groups: the first trained logic and crisis thinking; the second - short-term memory, attention and mathematical abilities; the third group was the control group and was engaged in looking for answers to difficult questions.

Before starting the training and at the end of the six weeks of training, all participants in the experiment took a kind of IQ test. The results showed that those engaged in the development of specific skills did indeed improve their ability to solve these typical problems. However, the general level of intelligence of the group members remained practically unchanged. So relying on all sorts of games and applications that promise to develop your brain is not particularly worth it.

Sports will make you smarter

Having found out that gymnastics for the mind does not develop your intellectual abilities in any way, you should not plunge into panic or frustration. There are other ways you can improve your cognitive skills and brain function. It turns out that physical activity works more efficiently by helping to increase the number of neurons.

Mice that regularly run in the wheel for 45 days show an amazing result: more neurons appear in their hippocampus (the region of the brain responsible for consolidating memory) than in those animals that are not "exercising."

Investigating the impact of sports on humans, scientists conducted. A group of elderly people with moderate cognitive impairment was studied. The participants were divided into three teams. The first did strength training, the second did aerobic exercise, and the third did both. The researchers found that all subjects were able to improve spatial memory simply by exercising as directed.

Another showed that girls who regularly do weightlifting twice a week for one year had a slower brain decline than those who did the exercises once a week. However, it is still unclear exactly how this affects mental abilities.

Why does physical activity improve brain function? One of the assumptions suggests that the level of the BDNF protein, a neurotrophic factor in the brain, increases in the body. He is responsible for the stimulation and development of neurons. That is why exercise affects the increase in the hippocampus, which means it improves memory.

On the other hand, adverse and negative events, such as severe depression, can reduce the level of neurotrophic factor, cause a decrease in the hippocampus and provoke cognitive impairment. Therefore, antidepressants not only improve mood, but also block conditions caused by a drop in BDNF levels. In some cases, such drugs can be considered neuroprotective.

Don't trust stimulants

But, of course, going in for sports is quite difficult. You need the ability to self-discipline, the desire to work, not to give up and not give up. Surely you would like to know if there is a magic pill that would do everything for you? These drugs are called stimulants and are very popular with students.

There is no clear evidence that stimulants help improve brain function. The only thing they are really useful in is strengthening the ability to quickly recall previously known information.

All other myths that stimulants help in creativity, develop thinking and memory are not confirmed. Rather, these drugs block the normal course of mental processes, but they cause feelings of anxiety and concern.

A study was conducted in which the participants were young healthy adolescents. The stimulants were given to randomly selected volunteers, while the rest were given a placebo. After taking the drug, adolescents were asked to take a creative thinking test, consisting of four modules. It turned out that the stimulant helped improve the result only for the test, where the children were asked to compose parts of the picture so that it would become whole again.

The takeaway is clear: you can develop your mental abilities. More importantly, you are able to use your natural potential to its fullest and maintain it in old age. There is no need to look in the direction of stimulants and pills. Put on shorts, sneakers and go exercise.