Tag Archives: neuroplasticity

Exercise Improves Your Memory

Happy Monday Tribe!

Continuing on our brain topics, per usual, this week we are going to talk about the benefits of exercise.  Well, the benefits for your brain!!

A research study in February of this year came out with some exciting information on this topic!

In 2012, Harvard came out with a study that showed that a substance called “irisin ”  is produced during intense physical activity.  This is actually a hormone that converts white fat to brown fat which produces heat.  Based on this, new research has been conducted on the deeper roles of this hormone.

They founds several things throughout this exploration:

1. Post mortem tissue showed that irisin traveled to the hippocampus the region where we store our memories. (The  brain’s of Alzheimer’s patients shows a vast depletion of this hormone).

2. Researchers found that disabling irisin in the brain’s of mice, weakened their memory and synaptic function in the brain. Then increased levels, provided increased memory and synapses.

3.  The researchers found that mice after swimming for 60 minutes, five days a week, secreted detectable amounts or irisin, proving it’s linked to exercise!

4.  They went further and wanted to see in Alzheimer’s brains if irisin would change outcomes.  They injected into the “athletic” mice, beta amyloid proteins as the buildup is linked to developing alzheimers. They found that irisin is protective, and the neurons of the brain were not harmed when introduced to the plaques. They were then injected with a pharmaceutical that decreased the irisin, and they no longer had neuron protection.

The results: exercise induced irisn production protects against alzheimers and other forms of dementia. Pretty cool huh?

Well, we also already know prior to this study that exercise also promotes the release of something called brain derived neurotrophic factor. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in neuronal survival and growth, serves as a neurotransmitter modulator, and participates in neuronal plasticity, which is essential for learning and memory.

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So, if you didn’t already need a bump in the hiney to get back into exercise let this be it!  If you have limitations in what you for exercise can do because of pain or limitations, thats where I come in! Mobility is key is having safe exercise.  But don’t just NOT exercise because of pain and limitations.  Figure out why those limitations are there!

OIL OF THE WEEK

ON the spotlight this week is Do Terra Basil.

In a recently published study (March 2016), Colombian researchers conducted a preliminary pre-clinical study examining the effects of ingesting linalool for three months. Memory was then assessed in several different tests. Ingested linalool was associated with improvements in learning, memory, and overall cognitive health.* Not surprisingly, ingesting linalool also improved measures of emotional health.

Linalool is the top component of many essential oils, including LavenderClary SageBasilCilantro, and Coriander. So next time you are exercising your brain, you may want to reach for one of these oils.