The Neurologic Benefits of Exercise
Abstract
Physical activity is known for its benefits to the physical. However, physical activity also has many benefits to the brain. The paper discusses the effects of exercise on the human brain, but focuses on the adolescent brain. It is recommended that adolescents spend at least sixty minutes of exercise daily, but many teenagers do not spend much time engaging in physical activities. So it is crucial to educate the youth about the effects of exercise on their brains. First, the paper first focuses on the correlation between exercise and brain derived neuropathic function. Then, the paper discusses the impact of exercise on cognitive function. Lastly, the paper discusses the effects of exercise on neurogenesis. The paper examines studies that have performed experiments with rats or humans.The paper observes the function of rat brains in correlation to exercise. Studies also look at human brain function in relation to exercise by measuring cognitive abilities The paper specifically focuses on the effects of exercise on brain-derived neuropathic factor, cognition, and neurogenesis.
Key Words: adolescent brain, brain-derived neuropathic function, cognitive abilities, effects, exercise, neurogenesis, physical activity
The Neurologic Benefits of Exercise
Many teenagers in America today begin to go to the gym during adolescence. The gym culture is present in the youth of America; despite this, many American Gen-Z youths also suffer from diabetes and obesity at an alarming rate compared to previous generations. Exercise has been known to be very important for human health. However,effects of exercise are not just limited to the physical body. Exercise has been found to have positive effects on the development of adolescent brains. So it is crucial to understand the neurobiological benefits of exercise to teenagers, to promote the health growth of the youth of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of exercise on the neurobiology of the brain. The paper specifically focuses on the effects of exercise on brain-derived neuropathic factor, cognition, and neurogenesis.
Literature Review
Brain-Derived Neuropathic Function
Exercise has a positive impact on brain-derived neuropathic factor. Tharmaratnam et al’s (2018) research further found an improvement in brain derived neuropathic factor. Hueston et al’s (2017) study that included the effects of aerobic exercise on rats found that the brain-derived neuropathic factor system has been positively affected by exercise. Brain-derived neuropathic factor is a protein that is found in the brain that aids in neuroprotection and neurogenesis (McMorris et Corbett, 2016). Neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity are heightened by brain-derived neuropathic factor (Bathina et Das, 2015, p. 1168). Brain derived-neuropathic factor plays a role in memory and learning, from the synaptic plasticity of Neuropathic factor (Silakarma et Sudewi, 2019, p. 43). Furthermore, Silakaema and Sudewi (2019) found increased levels of BDNF during memory tasks in rats, but found too much BDNF or caused a delay in memory. Cognitive abilities use increased amounts of BDNF and exercise has been found to have a positive association with BDNF. Therefore exercise could increase cognitive abilities through BDNF. Physical activity has a positive correlation with BDNF, which causes many benefits for the individual who is participating in the physical activity.
Cognition
Cognitive abilities have been improved by exercise. Anderson (2022) found that there was a correlation between aerobic exercise and cognitive abilities. They identified these abilities to be problem-solving, spatial learning, memory, planning, and inhibitory control. Another research study found improvements in the memory of exercise (Tharmaratnam et al, 2018). Owen et al (2018) found in their study that physical activity before math lessons could improve the reception of the material by the students by enhancing their cognitive abilities. Exercise could help teenagers perform better in school. Cognitive skills are necessary for school work. Therefore an increase in cognitive skills will help adolescents in their education and the increase is associated with exercise. The correlation between physical activity and improved cognition could be due to the previously identified connection between BDNF and improvements in cognitive abilities. However, there are likely multiple factors at play that affect cognition in relation to exercise than just BDNF. Exercise has a positive connection to cognitive abilities.
Neurogenesis
Physical activity has a positive link with neurogenesis. Tharmaratnam and colleagues further found that exercise can minimize the effects of stress on neurogenesis. Many adolescents have higher levels of stress from school, college applications, and the future. So exercise can help mitigate the neurobiological effects of stress that many adolescents face. This could be from the brain-derived neuropathic factor or/and due to other factors. However, most teens do spend much time in physical activity. Furthermore, Hueston and colleagues experiment with rats can corroborate the findings of Tharmaratan et al (2018). Hueston et al (2017) found an increase in neurogenesis in rats who engaged in exercise when compared to sedentary rats. Stress in adolescence can have effects on adult neurogenesis. Stress during adolescence can cause changes to cognition (Hueston et al, 2017). Therefore, exercise and other physical activity is critical for adolescents as exercise increases neurogenesis.
Conclusion
In summary, exercise has a positive impact on the brain particularly in the way physical activity affects brain-derived neuropathic factor, cognitive function, and neurogenesis. The studies examined in this paper found that physical activity is associated with benefits in brain health. It is crucial to further educate people and teenagers in particular about these benefits. In this paper, there was a point to identify the benefits of exercise in regards to adolescents. Many adolescents do not engage in enough physical activity, so it is crucial to educate them about the benefits, to ensure that the youth have healthy brain development.
Written by: Shivam Dalwadi
References
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