I’m no biologist by any stretch, but I’ve seen several websites that claim running and walking both increase neuronal growth and enhance cognitive function. A quick Google Scholar search pulls up this reference which seems to support this position.
IIRC from long ago the sigma2 receptors are the most impacted by exercise.
allan isfansays:
Exercise works but I’ve often wondering what the true reason is. I have found other activities that force you to be alone and away from the computer to effective ways of re-energizing. For example, spending a couple of hours resurfacing the backyard skating rink.
Sebsays:
“Three other aspects of writing method were also related to high productivity, but they were not widely employed […] the ritual of exercising vigorously before or during a writing session.”
Heh, I’ve never tried exercising vigorously while writing.
We just got ourselves a pair of dance pads for Christmas. I’ll let you know how that goes.
There’s a huge literature on impact of exercise on mental health. Some studies have shown exercise to be more effective against ADD and depression than traditional drug therapies, so I also think the effect is mostly physiological. Paradoxically I also find it easiest to focus when sleep deprived, for instance, after a sleepless night on a plane. Perhaps it’s the same mechanism that temporarily cures severely depressed subjects after a night of sleep deprivation.
Thanks Jason. Certainly, as you grow older, it looks like exercise can help your brain. But if you are already highly active intellectually, doesnit make a difference?
I’m no biologist by any stretch, but I’ve seen several websites that claim running and walking both increase neuronal growth and enhance cognitive function. A quick Google Scholar search pulls up this reference which seems to support this position.
CW Cotman, NC Berchtold. Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences, 2002.
If I don’t exercise regularly, my brain atrophies.
The most important effect is indeed likely from changes in the brain physiology.
It even induces long lasting changes in the neurotransmitters receptors via incredibly complex modulation of gene expression not just neurotransmitters production:
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006899305013648
IIRC from long ago the sigma2 receptors are the most impacted by exercise.
Exercise works but I’ve often wondering what the true reason is. I have found other activities that force you to be alone and away from the computer to effective ways of re-energizing. For example, spending a couple of hours resurfacing the backyard skating rink.
“Three other aspects of writing method were also related to high productivity, but they were not widely employed […] the ritual of exercising vigorously before or during a writing session.”
Heh, I’ve never tried exercising vigorously while writing.
We just got ourselves a pair of dance pads for Christmas. I’ll let you know how that goes.
There’s a huge literature on impact of exercise on mental health. Some studies have shown exercise to be more effective against ADD and depression than traditional drug therapies, so I also think the effect is mostly physiological. Paradoxically I also find it easiest to focus when sleep deprived, for instance, after a sleepless night on a plane. Perhaps it’s the same mechanism that temporarily cures severely depressed subjects after a night of sleep deprivation.
Thanks Jason. Certainly, as you grow older, it looks like exercise can help your brain. But if you are already highly active intellectually, doesnit make a difference?