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Physical training seems to serve exclusively to strengthen the muscles of the arms, abdomen or legs, but also some organs, such as the brain, need to be exercised to maintain or improve mental health, an aspect that is more important every day. to try
In a recent study, neurologists from the Oregon University of Health and Science (US) found that physical exercise improves brain function, such as learning ability and memory. As the university portal reported, the scientists measured the brain's response in sedentary mice that ran for short periods on wheels and several kilometers in two hours.
They observed that these exercise intervals (equivalent to humans to weekly basketball or 4000 daily steps), enhanced the work of a gene that helps establish connections between neurons in the hippocampus, the region of the brain that is associated with the formation of the brain. memory
This study, published in the journal eLife, concluded that the Mtss1L gene is activated by short exercises and promotes small increases in neurons known as dendritic spines, where synapse occurs. He concluded that a sharp course of exercise was enough to prepare the brain for learning.
This research is in conjunction with other studies that have already demonstrated that physical exercise It enhances the ability to focus, increases cognitive flexibility, improves long-term memory, relieves stress and decreases anxiety, and slows brain aging.
Mental exercises
In addition to physical activity, other brain allies are mental exercises like what to do Sudoku, train visual memory, review daily tasks, create mind maps and change sides (perform tasks with the opposite hand to the usual one). Activities that serve to keep the brain in shape, and this is possible at home.
According to Rodrigo Córdoba, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rosario, "Because people can take the exercises, understand them and practice them, they generate forms of behavior that contribute to mental health."
In addition to these simple home routines, a new trend toward good mental health is "neurotestant". Neurologist Gustavo Castro explains that this training program "is not a specialty of neurology, but that they are methods that can be used to treat attention with deficit, poor memory or sleep disorders."
Another type of gym
In this technique, the first step is to do brain mapping and analysis of brain electrical activity. These data are collected by machines that record and scan its operation.
This information generates hot maps and identifies the areas to be processed. Some of the exercises are the realization of mathematical games in which the answers are tracked in real time; anti-stress activities, or use of eyeglasses that generate pulses of light of different intensities and headphones that emit relaxed sounds, such as the waves of the sea.
In the sessions a complete follow-up is performed, in which, as the progression increases, the difficulty of the exercises increases or decreases. According to Gabriel Roncallo, scientific director of Hard Body Gymnastics, there are two areas to work on. The first relates to cognitive faculties that deal with lack of attention, memory, activity ability, concentration and learning; and the second is the emotional one, which is related to symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress.
"The key is to do repetitions with mental exercises to improve brain function," says Castro.
KAREN N. MARTÍNEZ SARMIENTO
EL TIEMPO School of Multimedia Journalism
Twitter: @KMARRRS
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