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Importance of exercise to brain health
Exercise can benefit the brain essay
Exercise effects on brain essay
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Over the years, there have been multiple studies on the stimulation effects on the brain from brain exercises. Some of the more prominent studies are the IMPACT, ACTIVE, and IHAMS studies. First off, the IMPACT study which had 487 participants. It is the largest experiment ever to examine whether or not brain stimulants are able to improve cognitive abilities in adults. Led by distinguished scientists from Mayo Clinic and the University of Southern California, the IMPACT study proves that people can make statistically significant gains in memory and processing speed if they do the right kind of scientifically designed cognitive exercises. Studies prove that people can make statistically large gains in memory and processing speed if they do certain brain exercises.
The study was conducted on the original Posit Science Brain Fitness Program, which contains six of the auditory exercises in BrainHQ: Sound Sweeps, which was called “High or Low”, Fine Tuning, Memory Grid, Syllable Stacks, To-do List Training, and In the Know. Those who participated in the study trained with these exercises for a total of about forty hours.
Specifically, the IMPACT study found that the people that used the exercises became more efficient in the exercise tasks. This was an expected result, seeing as how the exercises would make the people think quicker to respond to the tasks. The improvements included better memorization, quicker response, and just overall increased efficiency. “Gold standard” memory assessments—tests that are widely known to and accepted by doctors—showed that the Posit Science exercises genuinely improve memory overall.(Posit Science, 2013) This was a major achievement because it showed that the exercises don’t just teach shor...
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...ctive control group, who followed a computer-based program of active learning. The IMPACT study proves that cognitive decline is not inevitable and irreversible. Adults—regardless of their education level, IQ, or other demographic factors—can improve their cognitive abilities. Just as every adult can benefit from physical exercise, every adult can benefit from the right kind of cognitive fitness as well. Using Posit Science exercises available as part of BrainHQ can effectively strengthen and build memory and processing speed. These improvements help people perform better at work, connect better with others, enjoy their favorite activities more, and keep up with daily tasks efficiently.
There have also been studies to show that physical training helps stimulate the brain as well. Sports, working out, simply running can help the brain get into a routine and learn
Overall this was a great book. I have a great deal of interest in the brain. It is a truly amazing and fascinating organ. Its complexity bewilders not only researchers, and many neuroscientists but me as well. I also have somewhat of a passion for fitness and to learn how beneficial exercise can be, not only to our body’s health but the brain as well. It gives me a new understanding about a “workout”. The author did a great job explaining all of the very complicated processes that are involved in exercise’s wondrous benefits. Even though some of the information may have been boring, the way it was presented was not. This book was a great read and overall I would recommend it to any interested in exercise or the brain.
In Bad Science, Goldacre argues about brain gym that children don’t need Brain Gym to spot nonsense. He concentrates on criticizing an educational program that, however initially delivered in the United States, is presently ejecting in hundreds (if not thousands) of schools the whole way across the U.K. Brain Gym, has been depicted as a "string of complicated and exclusive activities for children that upgrades the experience of whole brain learning” (Goldacre, p.16). There are 26 physical activities which teach quick and regularly emotional changes in concentration, memory, sorting out and more by developing neural pathways in the participants' brains. Brain Gym is an arrangement of splendidly great fun activity break thoughts for children,
A study done at the American College of Sports Medicine reported that “fourth and fifth grade students who ran around and otherwise exercised vigorously for at least 10 minutes before a math test scored higher than children who sat quietly before an exam.” Physical activity is said to improve much more than physical health, and is known for the improving one’s memory and focus. Another article mentioned that physically active students tend to outperform their peers in the classroom who are not active. The article also mentions that “physically active students have larger brain volumes in the basal ganglia and hippocampus, areas associated with cognitive control and memory (Medical News, 1).” Exercise has been known to help students concentrate better in their classes, and accomplish their homework later
Technology and the Brain As a college student, using the internet and technology is a daily task. Everything you need for your classes: schedules, homework, quizzes, and even tests are all online. The debate on technology and the brain suggests that technology may have an effect on the brain, effect multi-tasking, and cause addiction. Brain Activity
Rogers, Chris . "What Is the Relationship Between Physical Exercise & Learning Ability?." LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
area of focus and remembering (Asp 2). Not all exercise affects the brain in the same way. Studies have been done that link certain exercises to increase brain activity. An example of this is high intensity training is linked to great immediate mental performance (Asp 3). Slow aerobic exercise is linked to retaining information over time (Asp 4).
In order to avoid the physical effects of aging, it is suggested that individuals engage in frequent exercise. Doing so will enhance muscular and cardiac ability, and will reduce one’s risk of various forms of heart disease and obesity (Myers & DeWall, 2016). Due to an increase in oxygen flow, exercise may also stimulate neurogenesis (Myers & Dewall, 2016), a process that promotes growth in hippocampal nerve cells that may result in an improved ability to retain memory. In relation to physical exercise, it is also suggested that adults in middle or late adulthood participate in “brain training” exercises, which have shown to make small improvements in one’s depreciating cognitive development. As a result of the brain’s neural plasticity, such brain exercises have the potential to enhance an individual’s ability to complete control tasks, while other research indicates that it can result in an overall sharpness of the mind (Myers & DeWall, 2016). Despite the onset of an aging mind and body that is characteristic of adulthood, exercise of all forms can induce positive outcomes for older individuals in both their physical and cognitive
Victoroff, Jeffrey Ivan. Saving Your Brain: The Revolutionary Plan to Boost Brain Power, Improve Memory, and Protect Yourself Against Aging and Alzheimer's. New York: Bantam, 2002.
Brain-Based Research can be researched plenty of ways, such as ultrasound, MRI, PET, and noninvasive ways to study brain chemistry. The sayings “use it or lose it” means if a person doesn’t use the knowledge they have taken in right away, they will lose it (not remember
In any case, all three of the devices that Johnson has argued seem to be working. They create TV shows that are popular and have incredibly high ratings. It is even seen in relatively new shows such as “Game of Thrones”, which is wildly popular with viewers among all ages. While I may not agree with the idea that these devices actually increase cognitive faculties, there is still plenty of research to be done in order to determine if it is true or not.
The human brain is a “thinking organ that learns and grows by interacting with the world through perception and action” (Russo-Neustadt, Beard, & Cotman, 2000, p.305). It is believed that physical exercise improves the brain’s function and protects against cognitive decline. Studies on exe...
FITkids is a seventy minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per weekday for nine months. At the end of this study, the students who participated in FITkids decreased in percentage of body fat and increased working memory. This is exactly what we want in physical education a healthier student in all aspects of school. The image below shows the students before and after scans of this study. The scans on the left of the page were the waitlist students who did not partake in the FITkids. The images on the right are the students who participate in FITkids. You can see there is a significant difference in brain activity from pre and post scans. They are very similar in the post assessments but this change drastically when they are scanned again after the nine months. This is just another example of many of why physical education should have longer class periods and should be required to take every year until
It is no secret that staying physically active is a great way to maintain a balanced lifestyle, stay healthy, and stay happy. But why is this so? According to Harvard University’s Health Blog, exercise directly changes brain structure, enlarging both the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal cortex, improving memory, learning, as well as critical thinking skills (Godman). These effects, combined with the release of endorphins, improve your mood by jump-starting several biological processes, thus reducing stress and relieving anxiety. There are numerous positive benefits of aerobic exercise on the brain, from a chemical standpoint, a biological standpoint as well as from a psychological one.
Weintraub, Karen. "'Brain games' can boost seniors' memory, focus." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Throughout the years, physical education has proven to have many physical benefits. The age-old apothegm that states that “An hour of play each day” is beneficial to students has proven to ring true. Many people acknowledge the physical side of physical education and overlook the cognitive benefits of the course. Not only does physical education affect the physical aspects of the body, it affects mental aspects as well.