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  • This year I made a New Yearís resolution to do more runningólike all those other people

  • who are likely to make New Yearís resolutions (actually 44% of Americans) and those who

  • are likely to resolve to exercise more (12% of those turning over a new leaf). So on New

  • Yearís day I downloaded a new app, obviously ëZombies, Runwill help, and decided to

  • train for a race across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Of course doing regular exercise is

  • good for your body, but the health benefits don't stop there. Physical exercise is also

  • good for your brain. One study split their participants into two groups, one that did

  • an aerobic exercise class every week for a year and another that did a stretching class.

  • Those in the exercise groupówho did 40 minutes of aerobic walking every weekóshowed improvements

  • on a spatial memory task, identifying where small dots flashed on a computer screen. This

  • improvement was directly related to some of their brain structures increasing in sizeójust

  • from exercising. Their hippocampus, the brainís memory and learning centre increased by an

  • average of 2%. But for those in the stretching group, their hippocampus decreased in size

  • by 1.42%- not surprising as peopleís brains can start deteriorating from as young as 30

  • years old. Data suggests thereís a significant positive relationship between physical activity

  • and cognitive functioning in children too. In one study, 9 and 10 year olds who performed

  • better on a fitness test had larger hippocampal volumes and a better performance on a memory

  • task. So as well as strengthening muscle cells, exercise strengthens brain cells. Researchers

  • believe some of these benefits come from a protein in your brain called BDNFóit stands

  • for Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor. Exercise like running stimulates the production of

  • BDNF in the brain. BDNF promotes the growth of dendritesóthe branches of neuronís cell

  • bodiesóand the strengthening of synapses, structures that let neurons communicate with

  • each other. So BDNF increases the connectivity between your neurons in brain structures like

  • the hippocampus, which is crucial for some aspects of your memory, like spatial memory.

  • It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. If youíre going out on a runóor aerobic

  • walkóto find food or shelter, an increase in BDNF in your brain would promote the retention

  • of your memories of what you find. So jogging can actually jog your memory. Exercising your

  • brain cells might change the way you think about your New Yearís resolutions or your

  • morning run. Or, it might just change the way you think.

This year I made a New Yearís resolution to do more runningólike all those other people

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