Here’s another reason to drop that doughnut and hit the treadmill: A new study suggests aerobic fitness affects long-term memory.
Michigan State University researchers tested 75 college students during a two-day period and found those who were less fit had a harder time retaining information.
“The findings show that lower-fit individuals lose more memory across time,” said Kimberly Fenn, study co-author and assistant professor of psychology.
The study, which appears online in the research journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, is one of the first to investigate young, supposedly healthy adults. Previous research on fitness and memory has focused largely on children, whose brains are still developing, and the elderly, whose memories are declining.
Participants studied related word pairs such as “camp” and “trail.” The next day, they were tested on the word pairs to evaluate long-term memory retention. Long-term memory is anything remembered more than about 30 seconds ago.
Aerobic fitness was gauged by oxygen consumption derived from a treadmill test and factored with the participants’ weight, percent body fat, age and sex.
The findings speak to the increasingly sedentary lifestyles found in the United States and other Western cultures. A surprising number of the college students in the study were significantly out of shape and did much worse at retaining information than those who were extremely fit, Fenn said.
Her co-authors included kinesiology researchers Matthew Pontifex and Karin Pfeiffer.
I don’t completely agree with this article. Yes, it is crucial for a person to life a healthy balanced lifestyle, but can the amount of exercise really affect the long term memory of an individual? Every person is different and our brains function differently. By that I mean that some people can remember faces better, others can remember words better, so can we really determine whether or not exercise really does have an effect on someones long term memory? I think this article is very interesting, but I think there should be more studies done before we would really know.
Is it possible that the oxygen intake and blood flow to the brain is increased, therefore bettering long term memory?
It is very interesting reading the various comments made. I would like to add to what 14012074 has mentioned in his comment. It is all true that that aerobic exercise is the best manor to get oxygen, a major component in brain cell function, into the brain. What caught my attention was the last sentence of his comment. A balanced diet is fundamental. Yes, the brain needs oxygen but it also requires the right vitamins to function at an optimal level.
The brain is part of this wonderful instrument known as the body. If the instrument is not working efficiently, how can we expect the components that make up our instrument work efficiently, vice versa. The one cannot function without the other. Yes go for a run, do a sport, do some cardio exercises, but remember that you can run as often and as far as you like, but if you are eating an enormous amount of fast foods, or foods high in fats, you are still at a higher risk of cholesterol, heart-attacks and clotting in the brain than the people that have the perfect balanced diet and lifestyle.
I can clearly see that: better memory = a fitter lifestyle + the correct nutritional intake
A healthy lifestyle was never a question,was it? we all want to be healthy yet still tend to get lazy at times and “indulge”,which is bad for our bodies. Keeping a healthy body is significant to student life because it enhances you to live a balanced life between books and social life without getting a burnout along the way. Junk food is highly related to many coronary diseases which even lead to obesity.
We all know that exercise is fundamental in maintaining a healthy body and mind. this article proves that keeping fit directly influences our mind, The key is that the type of exercise must be aerobic fitness, therefore lifting weights would not be the preferred type of exercise to do. Cardio is more applicable, something that gets your heart rate up and expands your lungs. Getting oxygen to the brain is key in this experiment, therefore the fitter a person is the better their oxygen circulation will be. they will be able to transport oxygen to the brain more efficiently and thus helping with long term memory.
Unhealthiness is a big problem in the world today, people are getting lazy and they eat a lot of bad foods. Exercise is not a big thing in one’s lifestyle anymore, this is a problem because if exercise is directly linked to long term memory, our future generations might not be mentally strong as previous generations. Therefore it is key to live a balanced lifestyle
I think this article is a incredible motivation , the think one just has to remember is that exercise does not mean becoming a body-builder or competing in the crossfit games or anything like that , if one could only train for a half and hout each day it would be enough to see a remarkable difference . i think aside from the research done from this study they should also bring into account the boost in confidence training gives you! The saying ” if you look good you feel good” is exactly what is happening, training makes yu feel good about yourself and gives you that self-confidence to tackle any kind of challenge in your path
I agree to a great extent with this article. Its relevance to us as first years could not have been more accurate as most of us are facing challenges of committing to regular exercise. This article emphasizes how important it is to stay fit and healthy. I believe that exercise enhances our mindsets by improving our alertness, attention, motivation and discipline. These factors are fundamental in striving for academic success. By pushing our bodies in exercise we are in turn pushing our brains to learn and forcing our memory to evolve.
I do agree with the conclusion but not entirely. The human brain needs oxygen to function properly. That means that if an unfit person can find a way to get oxygen to the brain by whatever means, they wont have any memory problems although it is going to require a lot of effort thus it is advisable to just drop that doughnut.
Being a first year university student, staying away from home, I have found little time to exercise. Having read this blog and the comments from various people I am determined to reintroduce aerobic exercise into my routine. Looking back I realise that last year when I exercised regularly I felt more disciplined when it came to time management and I agree with the finding that my ability to retain information was better. Exercise not only improves your long term memory but also improves mood and sleep and reduces stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas regularly cause or contribute to cognitive impairment.
I agree with this article.Since i’ve been exercising more my grades became better as well as my health.It’s remarkable how much better you can focus after just n few minutes of exercise.It also helps to relieve some stress and get me on the go every morning.Maybe i will exercise more and study less to get the perfect grades i want.
I’m definitely not a very fit person, and exercise sometimes scares me, but after reading this post I suddenly got a new perspective. I read that moderate exercising such as walking, and other aerobic exercises like running, cycling and swimming also “boosts memory power”. These kinds of exercises has such big of an effect on the brain and the body. After doing more reading I found out that regular exercise releases certain chemicals in the brain that not only helps with memory loss, but also with concentration and mental sharpness.
Doing the right amount of exercise will not only get you into good shape, it will also help you with a variety of other things.
I agree that other factors also play a role in memory loss, but if exercise can help with so many aspects in our lives, why not do it? So my question is what amount of exercise will be the “correct” amount to do to ensure that the amount of memory loss throughout our lives will stay as little as possible?
I agree wit this article, a person need great and fresh mind to work out lots of things and exercise is the key to all of this. exercise helps to keep a person fit physically and also mentally. we need exercise to improve our daily way of living.
This article clearly states yet again how important health and especially fitness is to the human body. For the body to function correctly, it is critical that each part of it should be exercised and developed. Thus retaining a good memory can be associated with fitness. It has been proven that ones heart is strengthened through aerobic exercises and by improving your heart, more blood can be transferred to your brain and thus more oxygen. With this happening, your brain receives its necessary “food” and better memory retention is obtained.
It’s interesting that there hasn’t been as much research on the immediate effects of exercise on the brain as there has been for how exercise slows down the main functions of the brain as we get older. I think it’s important that we look to keep ourselves healthy now while we are young and not have to worry about finding solutions to defects such as Asperger’s Syndrome when we’re older.
Even small changes can be beneficial. According to a study done by the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia, even exercising for 20 minutes helps the brain with acquiring and retaining information better.
Exercise indirectly causes more pumping of oxygen to the brain by increasing your heart rate and it releases certain hormones that create a better environment for the growth of neurons and their branches (dendrites).
So its definitely worth the time to take a jog early in the morning to get yourself ready for the all the information you’ll be taking in. It really gets you off to a good start and maintains a whole host of nourishment for your brain and body.
I agree with the research as known that a strong memory depends on the health and vitality of our brain. when you exercise the body, you exercise the brain. Related studies state that when treating your body well can enhance your ability to process and recall information. Physical exercises increases oxygen to the brain and reduces risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Exercise may play a big role in our brains as they enhance the effects of helpful brain chemicals and protect brain cells. On the other hand, when you nurture your brain with a good diet and other healthy habits also play a huge role in resharpening the brain.
Furthermore, healthy relationships: the ultimate memory booster. Human are highly social animals. We are not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Relationships stimulate our brains, in-fact interacting with others may be the best kind of brain exercise. Research shows that having a meaningful relationships and strong support system are vital not only to emotional health, but also to brain health.
This article provides a good motivation for people to become more fit, particularly students, which seems to be becoming more necessary in our current fast-paced society. Especially now that there is more work that needs to be remembered, it would be even more beneficial for students to invest their time into methods that could aid in maintaining good health and improving memory retention.
As it becomes more physically fit, the body increases its ability to take in oxygen in the lungs, and is able to function more efficiently. This includes the brain, which, after receiving more oxygen, may be able to send signals within the components of the brain better, thus improving memory and thinking skills.
In fact, regular exercise is a good investment that everyone can afford for both present and future, in maintaining good physical health, improving grades and preventing memory degeneration.
It is true that fitness is essential to optimal mental function. The mind and body are not two separate things, one has to make it work together. So not only will the memory be enhanced, but so also the other functions (for example: conceptual thinking, visualisation etc)? I can’t wait to see a more comprehensive and detailed study.
In response to Advaitaa Haripershad 14227497, I do agree that fitness in general improves on an individuals long term memory capacity.
However I personally feel that aerobic activity( activity that lasts for greater than 2minutes) imposes more stress on the individual as compared to anaerobic activity( activity that lasts less than 2minutes).
Anaerobic activity ie Strength training is more relative to our daily lives as students because we are consistently on the move therefore long term benefits on the individual will include a physically and mentally stronger individual.
In general we have a “stop and go” lifestyle not a “marathon” lifestyle, so as an individual you would be required to bulletproof your entire well being not just your memory.
The article is very good because it encourage people from the benefit of being fit.it tells us that if u are fit it is good for your healthy and your mind because the mind will be able to retain the information for a long time.it also explain the negative effects of being not fit and being out of shape as such person will be easily forget and not storing the information for a long time.it also tells us that the excess in oxygen within our brain also help the brain to retain the information for long time.as the conclusion the exercise is good in mind and also in the healthy of a person.
i agree with this article because as a person is more fit there is great ability to store information in a memory for long time without forgeting,because as the person do more exercise the ability of oxygen intake increases and as the oxygen is increasing within the body the more oxygen will be transported to the brain,so that it will maintain the activity of brain and also increasing the ability of brain to retain information for a long period of time.i can encourage that if u exercise you get healthier and your mind will be healthier.