Researchers report evidence from a small study that exercise may enhance essential plasticity of the adult brain.

Medical Xpress

Physical activity may leave the brain more open to change

December 7, 2015

Artistic representation of the take home messages in Lunghi and Sale: "A cycling lane for brain rewiring," which is that physical activity (such as cycling) is associated with increased brain plasticity. Credit: Dafne Lunghi Art 

 

Learning, memory, and brain repair depend on the ability of our neurons to change with experience. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 7 have evidence from a small study in people that exercise may enhance this essential plasticity of the adult brain.

The findings focused on the visual cortex come as hopeful news for people with conditions including amblyopia (sometimes called lazy eye), traumatic brain injury, and more, the researchers say.

"We provide the first demonstration that moderate levels of physical activity enhance neuroplasticity in the visual cortex of adult humans," says Claudia Lunghi of the University of Pisa in Italy.

"By showing that moderate levels of physical activity can boost the plastic potential of the adult visual cortex, our results pave the way to the development of non-invasive therapeutic strategies exploiting the intrinsic brain plasticity in adult subjects," she adds.

The plastic potential of the cerebral cortex is greatest early in life, when the developing brain is molded by experience. Brain plasticity is generally thought to decline with age. This decline in the brain's flexibility over time is especially pronounced in the sensory brain, which displays far less plasticity in adults than in younger people.

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Fidgeting might help counteract the damage of sitting down all day

Benefits Of A Good Posture      

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science alert

Finally, a good excuse for all your annoying foot-tapping.

 

FIONA MACDONALD

25 SEP 2015

 

If you've been living under a rock for the past five years, we have some bad news for you: sitting down for the majority of the day is bad for you. And we're talking really, life-shorteningly, scientifically verified bad for you. But a new study of more than 12,000 women in the UK suggests that by fidgeting in our seats, we might be able to counteract some of those harmful health impacts - without having to go out and invest in a standing desk.


The research followed women aged between 37 and 78 over a 12-year period, and collected information on their diets, exercise regimes, health, and, on a scale from one to 10, how much they fidgeted. The results showed that the women who sat for 7 hours a day or more were 30 percent more likely to die during the study than their more active peers - but not if they were rampant fidgeters.


The study was only based on women self-rating the amount that they fidget while sitting down, so it's definitely not conclusive, because it's highly likely that many people would classify themselves as habitual fidgeters when they barely move, and vice versa. But this is the first study of its kind, and the results are interesting enough to prompt further research into the link between fidgeting and the damage of sitting. 

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6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Your Muscles

The Huffington Post  |  By Sarah Klein Posted: 12/12/2013 8:54 am EST
There's not much we could do without our muscles -- swallow, breathe, move at all. Yet despite how essential muscles are to our survival, there's still a lot we don't know about them and how they work. Here are six fun facts you may not have known about your muscles.

There isn't just ONE strongest muscle in your body.

You've probably heard that your tongue is the strongest muscle, and while it is certainly impressive -- with its "combination of elasticity and forcefulness" -- LiveScience explains that there are too many different ways to measure strength to crown any one muscle strongest. The calf muscle, for example, is actually the muscle that exerts the most force, while the jaw muscle exerts the most pressure. And the gluteus maximus is the biggest muscle in the human body.

Muscles grow while you sleep.

All that work you put in at the gym pays off after you hit the hay. In the deep and restorative stages of sleep, the muscles relax and blood flow to the muscles increase. Hormones that fuel muscle development are released and tissues grow and repair, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Without enough deep sleep, don't expect to see results at the gym.

Muscles make 85 percent of your body heat.

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Even A Small Change In Habits Helps Fend Off Stroke

by Nancy Shute

June 06, 2013 4:18 PM

 

Your brain will appreciate even a modest improvement in stroke risk factors.

iStockphoto.com

This is not one of those posts that is going to beat you up for doing a crummy job exercising, eating better and all the other things you're failing to do to ward off death.
Instead, this post is here to say that if you improve one thing just one teeny bit, it's going to lower your risk of having a . So pick something, and stick to it.
Stroke, which happens when a blood vessel bursts or is blocked in the brain, is a leading cause of death and disability.
Scientists looked at seven factors known to affect stroke risk: cigarette smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, physical activity and diet.
Most Americans aren't doing so well on these. And most of us, knowing we're supposed to be doing better on them all, just sigh and reach for the remote.
So the scientists dug into a large study that tracked 30,239 people to see how much improvement it takes to prevent stroke. The people were all over age 45 at the start, and the study lasted from 2003 to 2007.
The good news is it doesn't take much to make a difference. Each risk factor for stroke was scored from 0 to 2, with 0 being crummy, 1 kind of OK, and 2 terrific. Even a one-point improvement in the total score across all seven factors significantly reduced stroke risk. Each improvement of a point on the 14-point scale meant an 8 percent reduction in stroke.



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• Poll reveals Canadians' misunderstandings about stroke (ctvnews.ca)
• Simple Seven Lifestyle Changes Can Reduce Risk to Stroke, A Study (hngn.com)
• The 3 Biggest Risk Factors for a Stroke (dailyfinance.com)
• The 3 Biggest Risk Factors for a Stroke (fool.com)
• 'Brain attacks' are preventable (onlineathens.com)
• Small Lifestyle Changes Can Significantly Cut Stroke Risk (counselheal.com)
• Depression and Stroke (nlm.nih.gov)