Exercising 25 Minutes a Week Increases Brain Volume - and May Slow Memory Decline (calgarysun.com) 62
"Exercising for 25 minutes a week, or less than four minutes a day, could help to bulk up our brains," reports the Washington Post, "and improve our ability to think as we grow older."
A new study, which involved scanning the brains of more than 10,000 healthy men and women from ages 18 to 97, found that those who walked, swam, cycled or otherwise worked out moderately for 25 minutes a week had bigger brains than those who didn't, whatever their ages.
Bigger brains typically mean healthier brains. The differences were most pronounced in parts of the brain involved with thinking and memory, which often shrink as we age, contributing to risks for cognitive decline and dementia... The results have practical implications, too, about which types of exercise seem best for our brain health and how little of that exercise we may really need.
The article notes that the researchers used AI to assess brain scans from 10,125 "mostly healthy adults of all ages who'd come to the university medical center for diagnostic tests... A clear pattern quickly emerged." Men and women, of any age, who exercised for at least 25 minutes a week showed mostly greater brain volume than those who didn't. The differences weren't huge but were significant, said Cyrus A. Raji, an associate professor of radiology and neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, who led the new study, especially when the researchers looked deeper inside the organ. There, they found that exercisers possessed greater volume in every type of brain tissue, including gray matter, made up of neurons, and white matter, the brain's wiring infrastructure, which supports and connects the thinking cells. More granularly, the exercisers tended to have a larger hippocampus, a portion of the brain essential for memory and thinking. It usually shrinks and shrivels as we age, affecting our ability to reason and recall. They also showed larger frontal, parietal and occipital lobes, which, together, signal a healthy, robust brain...
Exactly how exercise might be altering brains is impossible to say from this study. But Raji and his colleagues believe exercise reduces inflammation in the brain and also encourages the release of various neurochemicals that promote the creation of new brain cells and blood vessels. In effect, exercise seems to help build and bank a "structural brain reserve," he said, a buffer of extra cells and matter that could protect us somewhat from the otherwise inevitable decline in brain size and function that occurs as we age. Our brains may still shrink and sputter over the years. But, if we exercise, this slow fall starts from a higher baseline...
Bigger brains typically mean healthier brains. The differences were most pronounced in parts of the brain involved with thinking and memory, which often shrink as we age, contributing to risks for cognitive decline and dementia... The results have practical implications, too, about which types of exercise seem best for our brain health and how little of that exercise we may really need.
The article notes that the researchers used AI to assess brain scans from 10,125 "mostly healthy adults of all ages who'd come to the university medical center for diagnostic tests... A clear pattern quickly emerged." Men and women, of any age, who exercised for at least 25 minutes a week showed mostly greater brain volume than those who didn't. The differences weren't huge but were significant, said Cyrus A. Raji, an associate professor of radiology and neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, who led the new study, especially when the researchers looked deeper inside the organ. There, they found that exercisers possessed greater volume in every type of brain tissue, including gray matter, made up of neurons, and white matter, the brain's wiring infrastructure, which supports and connects the thinking cells. More granularly, the exercisers tended to have a larger hippocampus, a portion of the brain essential for memory and thinking. It usually shrinks and shrivels as we age, affecting our ability to reason and recall. They also showed larger frontal, parietal and occipital lobes, which, together, signal a healthy, robust brain...
Exactly how exercise might be altering brains is impossible to say from this study. But Raji and his colleagues believe exercise reduces inflammation in the brain and also encourages the release of various neurochemicals that promote the creation of new brain cells and blood vessels. In effect, exercise seems to help build and bank a "structural brain reserve," he said, a buffer of extra cells and matter that could protect us somewhat from the otherwise inevitable decline in brain size and function that occurs as we age. Our brains may still shrink and sputter over the years. But, if we exercise, this slow fall starts from a higher baseline...
Re:Occipital Lobe (Score:5, Insightful)
i've been exercising for far more than 25 minutes a week for nearly 60 years. i guess my intracranial pressure must be over the roof by now. oh, wait, this is slashdot so that could well be yet another nonsensical clickbait headline. let's see where this comes from ...
the article cites the washington post, yet the link sends you to the "calgary sun", who i'm guessing is who is paying for a couple of extra views. then again they don't cite the study. however, it's easy to google up (25 minutes of exercise a week indeed do miracles to your brain!) the original article in the washington post by the same author that does but, of course, that's $27 just for a peek. hard pass.
well, mens sana in corpore sano, the romans already knew that 2000 years ago. it's cool that science catches up and our media takes notice too. pffff ...
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i've been exercising for far more than 25 minutes a week for nearly 60 years. i guess my intracranial pressure must be over the roof by now. oh, wait, this is slashdot so that could well be yet another nonsensical clickbait headline. let's see where this comes from ...
Oh wait...this is humanity.
Look around you. The average 70 - 80 year old is already dead from a lack of maintenance. Tends to prove that human ignorance is timeless and requires re-education a bit more often than "the romans".
Re: Occipital Lobe (Score:1)
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my point was that I believe you didnâ(TM)t give appropriate nuance to the situation.
that's right, you are very observant. i'll try to put in some more nuance next time i mock slashdot's editorials and choices. pinky promise.
you could learn when not to use apostrophes or double quotes on slashdot, btw.
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What are you babbling about? The study [iospress.com] was linked in the blurb.
So much for exercising leading to an increase in brain volume.
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well, i could swear it wasn't when i commented but better not, as it might as well be true. could be side effects of another exercise i duly observe called getting high, so you would actually be right for once. fully enjoy this moment, for it will not last! :p
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So much for exercising leading to an increase in brain volume.
Imagine how dumb he'd be if he didn't exercise!
Re: Occipital Lobe (Score:2)
Re: Occipital Lobe (Score:2)
It is part of why GLP-1 agonists are such a breakthrough- people just feel happier eating less. The fat-shaming crowd around here, though, believe t
Re: Occipital Lobe (Score:2)
Other diseases affect brain? (Score:5, Interesting)
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These conditions, especially those related to blood circulation and oxygen delivery to the brain must have an effect, of course.
Which perfectly explains the delusion [businessinsider.com] millions [imgur.com] of Americans have [imgur.com].
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If someone does less than 25mins per week exercise, then there is bound to be a LOT of other problems/conditions/illnesses/diseases is his/her body. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, overweight/obesity, clogged arteries, and so on. These conditions, especially those related to blood circulation and oxygen delivery to the brain must have an effect, of course.
A number of those conditions can be slowed, stopped, or even reversed with exercise ... unless my Doctor is lying to me, right?
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Exercising has infinite benefits [...] I dont know why these stories just keep being posted.
This particular benefit on memory function is new to me, or at least it's not frequently heard of. For me this was a valuable read.
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rsilvergun, basically.
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The 1% prevents him from exercising and forces him to eat fast food.
25 minutes a week? (Score:4, Informative)
And walking counts? Um... If there are people who don't qualify, I don't understand how they exist.
OK, OK. The last time I visited the US, I parked in front of a shop, bought something, then walked across the street to a restaurant for lunch. My cousin, who was with me, panted out: "I *gasp* haven't walked *gasp* this far *gasp* in ages".
Weird. How can you do that to yourself?
Re:25 minutes a week? (Score:4, Funny)
Weird. How can you do that to yourself?
You had to walk across the street to get lunch?? But that's why the drive-thru was invented!
Re:25 minutes a week? (Score:4)
My American aunt used to take the car to get the mail from the mailbox at the end of a drive that was barely longer than the length of the car.
I got stopped by the police, one time, in South Carolina for walking on the sidewalk. Apparently, not driving was considered suspicious and in need of investigation.
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Ok not California but still...
https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/2... [lyrics.com].
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And walking counts? Um... If there are people who don't qualify, I don't understand how they exist.
Haven't you ever seen somebody in a wheelchair?
Americans are usually much more or much less fit (Score:5, Interesting)
Two reasons are that Software Engineers are upper middle class and have more disposable income to go hiking on weekends or pay for a gym membership or home gym and the second reason is that we're urban and work for a company based in a major city. When I worked for suburban company 30 minutes out, the waistlines got larger. Go to poorer neighborhoods and you'll see people get heavier.
Generalizing about America gets complex. If you walk around in London, you need to compare your experience to NYC. If you walk around 30 minutes outside Berlin, you need to compare that to an American suburb of similar socio-economic status.
Americans love to shit on themselves....it's our national pastime. We ignore all data and every 10 years come up with a boogey man. When I was a kid, it was the Japanese. They were going to own all of the USA and we're too lazy and fat and corrupt to stop it...then it was China...not sure who it is today. However, we LOVE news reports about how our kids are the dumbest, our workers are the shittiest, we're the fattest, etc. Some of it is true, but it's often blown really far out of proportion. We love scaring ourselves...I'm not even sure why. We love to pretend every bad neighborhood becomes like the movie "Escape from New York" at night. Every city will be a crime-consumed hellscape. We love to pretend everyone around us is mega fat. We love to pretend our kids are too dumb to function. We fixate on the negative and ignore any studies that contradict it.
If you walk around rural Wisconsin or Iowa, you'll see some fatties, no doubt about it...but you're in a poor rural neighborhood. How are your country's poor rural neighborhoods? Walking around Boston, NYC, SF, LA?...not so fat...definitely fitter than the people I saw in London and on par with the folks I saw in Paris and Rome. I remember the attractive women in Paris were certainly beautiful, but more often than not just skinny...low effort. The young attractive women in NYC, on the other hand, have fitter bodies and clearly spent some time in the gym to build muscle tone.
So...get out more...visit urban parts of the USA and you'll see your cousin is an outlier.
Re: Americans are usually much more or much less f (Score:4, Informative)
I live in London. Most of the obese in the city centre are american tourists. The UK population certainly has fatties but we're mere beginners compared to the US.
I know English fatties in Boston too :) (Score:2)
I live in London. Most of the obese in the city centre are american tourists. The UK population certainly has fatties but we're mere beginners compared to the US.
Not a great representation. You need to compare them to New Yorkers of similar socio-economic status. America is a much larger nation and much more diverse in every metric, from types of industry to ethnic and racial (and yes, I do recognize London is much more diverse than it used to be). I know some very overweight English immigrants, but it's not a fair representation of England, just Brits who found themselves living in my city.
We are statistically more overweight...but not as much as most seem to
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In London, you are even beginners in comparison to Holland and France. I see a lot more obese people in those countries than in London.
Here in Belgium, I have the impression that the medium citizen takes care of his/herself.
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Why is the USA's life expectancy ranked 59th in the world? Mass shootings? Having a higher infant mortality rate than Uruguay? Or having among the highest wealth inequality rates in the world? What's making all those Americans die so young?
Mortality reasons? (Score:5, Informative)
n=1's anecdotal opinion isn't very convincing to me. Why is the USA's life expectancy ranked 59th in the world? Mass shootings? Having a higher infant mortality rate than Uruguay? Or having among the highest wealth inequality rates in the world? What's making all those Americans die so young?
Actually, those are excellent reasons, although Mass shootings, while tragic, don't impact the mortality rate much. We're a big country and have a lot of deaths from other things like car accidents or opioid overdoses that are far far higher.
Also, we're 47th as of 2023. The wealth inequality rates are shit and IMHO our biggest issue...but a factor in why?...we have the top financial, drug, entertainment, and tech sectors in the world. So yeah, the home of Apple, MS, Google, Meta, nVidia, Morgan Stanley, Hollywood, etc is going to have a lot more wealthy outliers skewing inequality than Belgium or France....not to mention many of the world's brightest come here to start their business. We need to do a LOT to improve how we treat our poor, but when wealth inequality will always be worse in a place with most of the best companies in the world, like the USA vs Greenland or Canada.
Stress is fucking huge...undoubtedly a huge part.
IMHO, our deadliest issue is our culture. We're very individualistic. Many Americans think they're solely responsible for their fate. They focus on themselves more than their broader family and their community....and as a result, we have less cultural identity, less ties to our family, less ties to our community, and much greater loneliness. This increases stress and make it harder for us to deal with the changing world and IMHO causes our trademark anxiety. Japan is a leader in life expectancy and a major reason is having close-knit families. You have a lot less stress when you're hanging out with your siblings and dropping your kids off at their aunt's or grandparents for the day.
Our numbers are also skewed by the fact that we have participated in far more wars than any nation above us. A lot of young, healthy men died in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East.
The USA is not even the most obese nation. We're not even in the top 10. from [cerbariatrics.com]
Prevalence of adult overweight & obesity (2023) Top countries by percentage:
Jordan – 44.70%
Ecuador – 41.30%
United Arab Emirates – 40.10%
Chile – 39.80%
Mexico – 39.10%
Northern Ireland – 38.00%
Lebanon – 37.9%
Albania – 36.30%
England – 36.20%
Australia – 35.60%
Top countries in the American region by percentage:
Ecuador – 41.30%
Chile – 39.80%
Mexico – 39.10%
Venezuela – 34.50%
Argentina – 33.70%
Canada – 33.50%
United States – 31.20%
Bahamas – 27.90%
Today I learned we're skinnier than Canada? Australia? England? Northern Ireland? That was a surprise to me. I knew the Middle East and Mexico had higher obesity rates, but I was surprised by those other countries.
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You've identified a very American trait. We are always in a state of panic about something. If we don't have something to worry about, compete with, fight against, be terrified by, etc, etc, then we're not happy. If we can't identify a real thing then we'll make one up.
On the plus side this leads to a go go go competitive culture of success.
On the minus side it leads to paranoia and conspiracy theory.
At least whatever happens, no matter how crazy, there's always someone who can say, "see? I told you so an
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and you'll see your cousin is an outlier.
The thing about generalisations is they are generally backed in statistics without looking any deeper into causal relationships. Sure if you look for something comparable you'll find it, but that isn't America vs Europe, that is cherry picking specific data.
The obesity rate of America is higher than the worst European country *by a wide margin*. That doesn't make the cousin the outlier. It makes the cousin a part of the statistic. Incidentally you compare statistics to socio economic factors, yet countries
You should have googled first (Score:4, Informative)
The obesity rate of America is higher than the worst European country *by a wide margin*. That doesn't make the cousin the outlier. It makes the cousin a part of the statistic. Incidentally you compare statistics to socio economic factors, yet countries like Greece have a very low obesity rate than countries like the USA, despite teh former having a significant lower socio-economic status overall. So the two on a national scale aren't even as correlated as you think.
Incidentally it is interesting that you pick London as your comparable target in Europe, the UK isn't really very good in overall health compared to most of the continent. They are the most obese nation in Europe.
Nope. According to this [cerbariatrics.com] and this [ourworldindata.org]. I don't think less than 10% is a "wide margin." According to one, our obesity rate is lower than England and according to another, it's pretty close to theirs. Also, Greece is less than a 5% difference and France...the country Americans like to shame themselves by comparing themselves to is only about 7% different. (I honestly think the ourworldindata.org is incorrect based on their Mexican ranking alone).
Top 10 most obese countries by percentage:
Nauru – 61.0%
Cook Islands – 55.9%
Palau – 55.3%
Marshall Islands – 52.9%
Tuvalu – 51.6%
Niue – 50.0%
Tonga – 48.2%
Samoa – 47.3%
Kiribati – 46.0%
Micronesia (Federated States of) – 45.8%
Prevalence of adult overweight & obesity (2023)
Top countries by percentage:
Jordan – 44.70%
Ecuador – 41.30%
United Arab Emirates – 40.10%
Chile – 39.80%
Mexico – 39.10%
Northern Ireland – 38.00%
Lebanon – 37.9%
Albania – 36.30%
England – 36.20%
Australia – 35.60%
Top countries in the American region by percentage:
Ecuador – 41.30%
Chile – 39.80%
Mexico – 39.10%
Venezuela – 34.50%
Argentina – 33.70%
Canada – 33.50%
United States – 31.20%
Bahamas – 27.90%
Comparing Greece, a very homogenous country, to the USA is also not a good comparison. 92% of Greece is ethnically Greek and most of the remaining people are white folks from the region. You'd be better served comparing the USA to countries with actual diversity...across the entire nation, like Canada or even Mexico...who is a rising star, economically. The USA's obesity statistics change drastically if you break down by race. Those with European ancestry are right in the middle...typically far fatter than their Asian counterparts, but are not the heavist in most communities.
Also, what you commenting on is one of the biggest annoyances I have with European visitors. Upper middle-class Europeans who have the money and comfort to travel the globe go to middle America and complain that we're obese and uncultured....that's like me going into the villages of India and comparing them to my Boston community. Sorry, if you're walking around London, you need to walk around NYC for comparison, not Des Moines.
I chose London, not because they're fatter, but because they're primarily a financial center, similar to NYC in the USA. If you want to complain about Shenzen's pollution, you need to compare it to Detroit (our manufacturing hub), not Boston (a wealthy de-industrialized city). If you want to compare experiences, it helps to be as "Apples-to-Apples" as possible. I am sure Stockholm best St Louis in every metric...but what about San Jose? Seattle?
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Software Engineers are upper middle class and have more disposable income to go hiking on weekends or pay for a gym membership or home gym
I think the question is more mindset, education levels, disposable time, but not much the disposable income. Exercising is free at the park, hiking is free in the forests or beach line that can be accessed with public transport, and gyms are adequate for the local income levels. In my low income place of living, the local gym is 16 euros per month for the basic plan, which everybody who isn't on minimum wage can afford. If you're upper class you can register into a more expensive gym with different demograp
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And walking counts? Um... If there are people who don't qualify, I don't understand how they exist.
OK, OK. The last time I visited the US, I parked in front of a shop, bought something, then walked across the street to a restaurant for lunch. My cousin, who was with me, panted out: "I *gasp* haven't walked *gasp* this far *gasp* in ages".
Weird. How can you do that to yourself?
You might get just as much exercise as that walking by running your mouth or jumping to conclusions, no? /sarcasm
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Weird. How can you do that to yourself?
Have you been inside a Walmart? It's a hike just from electronics to the grocery section. Of course, Walmart does have those motorized shopping carts for people who can't handle that much walking.
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25 Minutes Per Week (Score:4, Funny)
That's about how much time I spend going back and forth to the refrigerator during commercial breaks.
I guess I'm OK.
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If walking to the fridge causes you to have a "moderate workout" then I think you have far bigger problems than brain volume.
Well, well, well. (Score:4, Funny)
Check out the big brain on Brad.
He must have been to the gym for a whole hour a week!
That explains so much. (Score:2)
When I worked in the US (I was over there for 20 years), bosses and coworkers who walked little tended to be less imaginative, more angry, and more judgemental, and these are certainly traits that are linked to smaller brain sizes.
However, lacking a portable MRI, I couldn't tell you actual brain sizes, and lacking a detailed neurological study, along with their diets and personal backgrounds, I couldn't tell you if other factors were involved.
Nor can I definitely say there was no confirmation bias, as I'm v
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In many American cities, walking is made rather unpleasant. There are massive roads (stroads) that have fast moving traffic and sometimes no sidewalks. They are loud and noisy and difficult to cross. The distances between home and work is quite far for most people, because living in a city is expensive. Especially if you want the luxury of every child having his or her own bedroom. (although honestly, most Americans could downsize and cut a lot of the material possessions in their life that is taking up spa
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I think if biking, walking paths, public transportation, and cities were designed better here in the US. We'd find ourselves in a very different situation in terms of health but also in how our communities are structured.
You're completely overlooking how efficient the human body is at turning food into usable energy (or into fat, if you're not using that energy). Americans aren't fat because biking and walking your way around suburbia is largely impractical, it's because our diet is unhealthy. If you eat the appropriate amount of calories for your physical activity level (or lack thereof), you can still be skinny even if the only walking you do is to and from your vehicle.
Besides, while making cities more walkable will ce
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You're completely overlooking that obesity is not the only metric of health. Comparing heart disease and stroke in people who have almost no physical activity to those that do a moderate amount of walking every day shows pretty dramatic difference. An average adult doesn't burn a ton of calories walking 5 miles a day, and they won't undo a diet of overeating, but their heart health will improve, chances of deep vein thrombosis plummets, and more. There's no panacea, as much as my friend insists I go zero-ca
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The transportation situation in America isn't really unexpected. Many Europeans have no concept of how vast America is. Texas alone is twice the size of Germany, and about the same size as France. At the same time, the population is relatively sparse. The city of Houston has a population larger than 33 US states.
As a result of its geographical size and sparse population, Americans often have a need to travel greater distances than Europeans, but at the city level and at the national level. It doesn't seem s
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sure, America is a really big place. But we could have lived in cities instead of paving farmland over with asphalt and building suburbs. Everyone wanting to have a 3 bedroom house, garage, and white picket fence is kind of how we got ourselves here. Part of our problem with commuting to work is something we inflicted on ourselves by our own choices (well by our great grand parent's choices)
Before we had cars here, we just kind of dealt with the long distance and sparse population. There were lots of small
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But we could have lived in cities instead of paving farmland over with asphalt and building suburbs. Everyone wanting to have a 3 bedroom house, garage, and white picket fence is kind of how we got ourselves here.
It's a shame, I know, people doing what they can to live in pleasant places. I'm kind of attached to my 5-bedroom house with a (brown) picket fence. Those extra bedrooms came in really handy in the pandemic when my wife and I both started working remotely, we were able to convert two of them into dedicated offices. My neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks, but it's still very walkable, people do it all the time...and that's how we get our exercise.
Some people like to live in dense, walkable places...some peop
Incremental at best (Score:2)
The authors acknowledge that it's 'well known' that exercise improves brain size/function.
So this study was really just someone who looked for a reasonably quick, easy and cheap type of study, with results that were already known.
So this was just another academic exercise (!) to maintain position at a university?
Not trying to bash them, but it seems a rather unambitious study. They could have aimed higher...
Only four? (Score:1)
If I only exercised 4 minutes a day, I'd be larger than Chris Christie.
Get bigger brains in four minutes a day! (Score:2)
...yeah, right. So, what've you got that's new and exciting in healing crystals?
Less and less excersize with every newer study (Score:2)
It's funny how over the years all these studies say that we need less exercise than stated in an earlier study.
Half hour a day, then ten minutes a day, and now just twenty-five minutes per week. In another five years a study will say we actually don't need to exercise at all, just open a window once a day and smell the outside air.
Except for those living in smog-filled cities of course. They can buy cans of fresh Druidian air in the stores.
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It's funny how over the years all these studies say that we need less exercise than stated in an earlier study.
Half hour a day, then ten minutes a day, and now just twenty-five minutes per week. In another five years a study will say we actually don't need to exercise at all, just open a window once a day and smell the outside air.
Maybe we (the science folks) are just getting better at MEASURING - this way we can reduce the amount of exercise and still have "a measurable effect"?
That's cool (Score:2)
But what about methods of healing your brain post injury?
I say this as a person who had at least two strokes last year. I'm still relatively smart, no motion control issues, but how the hell can I encourage my brain to reconnect the parts that aren't connected any more. Remembering words comes and goes but raises itself as an issue now and then. Yesterday, I couldn't think of the word "dustpan" Weird process, I regularly do at least 30 minutes a day in activity, walks, runs bike rides, etc. what else
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New types of mental activity that you haven't done before to create new pathways.
You're unlikely to reconnect what was connected, but creating new connections can recover function.
The study has it backwards? (Score:2)
A new study, which involved scanning the brains of more than 10,000 healthy men and women from ages 18 to 97, found that those who walked, swam, cycled or otherwise worked out moderately for 25 minutes a week had bigger brains than those who didn't, whatever their ages.
The study didn't actually measure brain growth on individual persons after they did exercise for a lenght of time - they measured brains of people, who did varying amounts of exercise. So, the causality might be the other way around?
I.e. those people who have bigger brains (by genetics), and are therefore more clever, intelligent, wise (whatever you call it) are more educated and know better that exercise is good for their health. Therefore, they have made the WISE DECISION to exercise more often than th
head bang (Score:2)
Banging your head against the wall causes brain edema, also increasing brain volume. Easier than exercising.