- Izabela Cardoso & Fernando Teixeira
- BBC Reel
“From an evolutionary perspective, we have developed really big brains, which are especially expensive to maintain.”
“They are very, very large, very inefficient and use a lot of energy to function, even at rest,” Dr Damian Bailey, director of the Institute of Health and Wellness Research at the University of South Wales, UK, told the BBC. .
Bailey, who is also the leader of the University’s Neurovascular Research Laboratory, explained that they are focused on the study of physical activity because “there is no curative treatment for neurodegeneration, and exercise has emerged as a very, very powerful countermeasure. “.
The big question, he highlights, is how much, what type, how often.
“A lot of what we do in the lab is looking at different aspects of exercise, in terms of type, intensity and duration, trying to find that sweet spot where we can see optimized adaptation,” Bailey says.
“We know that with physical activity we can increase blood flow to the brain,” which is crucial because it helps it recognize helpful chemicals it needs to grow.
That blood supply is also important because our hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory, tends to shrink as we age, receiving less blood in doing so.
Thanks to recent advances in technology, the scientists they can really see how physical activity benefits the brain.
They can measure blood flow to the brain through the neck, through the brain, through the skull.
“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.”
“You can do some great moves that almost don’t feel like you’re working out and that really stimulate the brain.”
Which is it?
“What we identified is that, especially for people who aren’t very fit, or who can’t do heavy exercise, the squats They are a very useful option.”
That’s right: squatting and standing up once more and once more has been described as a “smart” form of exercise because it “challenges the brain” and thus benefits it.
“The best thing regarding doing squats -explains the scientist- is that when you stand up, you are going once morest gravity; when you go down, you work 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”.
But will there be many?
At a minimum, Bailey recommends doing them for three minutes, three times a week.
He says that when they do measurements that tell them how quickly blood enters the brain in volunteers who have done squats for a month, 4 to 5 times a day, 3 to 4 times a week, they see improvements.
In fact, he points out, they register more improvements than with exercises such as running, walking or pedaling on stationary devices for 30 to 40 minutes.
It’s more: you can kill two birds with one stone if, while you exercise, read or do crossword puzzles Because, as Bailey explains, “we know we can further enhance flow to the brain by providing what we call a cognitive stressor, cognitive load.”
In the extremes
The oxygen deprivation experienced in some extreme sports can also be used as a stressor to push the limits of the brain and to understand how its defense mechanisms work.
Because Bailey is a former athlete, he himself is the subject of his own investigation.
“You have to practice what you preach.”
“We use a whole range of extreme sports for challenge the brain in order to obtain a different vision of these mechanisms. Things like free diving -one breath, without oxygen-, skydiving -stress and less oxygen- and high-altitude mountaineering -lots of activity, less oxygen-“.
We are so sensitive to oxygen deprivation that when we go to, for example, extreme altitudes with extremely low oxygen levels, there is an increase in blood flow, he adds.
“The brain is compensating all the time. It’s a bit like it’s walking a bioenergetic tightrope. It constantly has to make adjustments to keep from falling off.”
Tracking brain responses to extreme conditions might shed light not only on how to treat diseases like dementia, but also on how to make long-term space missions possible.
The brain is particularly sensitive to changes in gravity, Bailey says.
“With the lack of gravity in space, and blood flowing to the head… you only have to look at the puffy red faces and spindly legs of the astronauts.”
And one of the potential complications with that is that, in the long term, it might increase the pressure inside the brain, which can influence your vision.
“That’s one of the biggest problems we face and that’s why we’re doing experiments to try to understand, solve and develop countermeasures for a human flight to Mars.”
At the University of Milan, Italian researchers have also been investigating the issue.
“We think, ‘What happens when you can’t move?“, related Dr. Daniele Bottai, of the Department of Health Sciences of the university.
“Because there are situations, like when people spent a lot of time on their couches during the pandemic, or when you’re sick, or you’ve been in orbit in space for months.”
“We tend to worry regarding circulation, regarding bones, regarding muscles, but we have to think regarding brain performance as well.”
Inactivity reduces blood flow to the brain, and not getting enough oxygen can have dire consequences.
“When things go wrong with the brain, you only need a very small window to induce damage, which is why we are interested in physical activity,” Bailey reiterated.
“It’s the only countermeasure that exists at the moment, and we’re starting to scratch the surface when it comes to the brain.“.
* EastThe article is adapted from the BBC Reel video “A simple exercise that gives your brain an unexpected boost.” if you want to see himor, click here
image source, Getty Images
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