It’s no longer a mystery that physical activity increases blood flow to the brain. We constantly hear that exercising is closely related to cognitive ability in humans. That blood supply is also vital to the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory and learning. The surprising thing is that to irrigate it with this vital liquid, it is not necessary to perform great exercises or intense physical conditioning routines. The experts have revealed something amazing!
Scientific advances have revealed how physical activity increases brain functions and stimulates neurons to work efficiently and keep people active in constant cognitive process.
Now you can measure blood flow through the neck, skull and neck.
“And what our research is showing is that you don’t have to do breath-taking exercises or push yourself to the limit in the gym to benefit certain parts of the brain,” confirmed Dr Damian Bailey, director of the Institute for Health Research. and Wellbeing from the University of South Wales, UK.
And it is that, according to these recent studies, some movements are great for stimulating the brain (directly the hippocampus) and produce great effects in very specific cognitive areas, as mentioned (learning and memory).
What is the exercise to activate the brain hippocampus?
“What we identified is that, especially for people who are not very fit, or who cannot do heavy exercise, squats are a very useful option,” said the health professional.
In this way, semi-flexing the legs, lowering the torso, getting back up and repeating the movement over and over once more, constitutes an authentic “smart exercise” due to its ability to constantly supply blood to the brain in the aforementioned area.
Why do squats have such significant power on the hippocampus?
Dr. Bailey explains that while it may seem obvious, it’s important to understand that when we stand up we are once morest gravity and when we lower our body, we are with gravity.
“What happens is that the blood flow to the brain swings up and down repeatedly as you do them, and it’s that change in flow that we think stimulates the vascular endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, to supply more blood to the brain.” brain,” said the specialist.
Even people who are less sporty or have a high level of sedentary lifestyle can be encouraged to start doing squats more frequently, because, as explained by Dr. Bailey, several repetitions are not needed to cause the desired effect on the brain. .
Squatting for 3 minutes a day three times a week is the specialist’s recommendation.
The really surprising thing is that, to stimulate the brain, this exercise represents even better results compared to those who ride a bicycle, run or walk for 30 or 40 minutes a day.
