The Integra Blog
May
Apr
How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain
Fascinating article from the NYTimes:
The value of mental-training games may be speculative…but there is another, easy-to-achieve, scientifically proven way to make yourself smarter:Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does.
The article quotes research performed on mice, who were put through a series of cognitive tests. The effects of mental stimulation via an enriched environment were assessed with and without exercise. It showed that, despite what may have been presumed, the key factor was exercise. Animals that exercised, whether or not they had any other enrichments in their cages, had healthier brains and performed significantly better on cognitive tests than the other mice.
Why would exercise build brainpower in ways that thinking might not? The brain, like all muscles and organs, is a tissue, and its function declines with underuse and age. Beginning in our late 20s, most of us will lose about 1 percent annually of the volume of the hippocampus, a key portion of the brain related to memory and certain types of learning.
Exercise though seems to slow or reverse the brain’s physical decay, much as it does with muscles.
The article goes onto to talk about the cause of this increased cognition following exercise, BDNF, which I’ve mentioned before when discussing the book Spark by John Ratey:
Exercise boosts the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF stimulates the formation of new connections between brain cells and is found the hippocampus, cortex, and basal forebrain areas of the brain, vital to learning, memory, and higher thinking.
Apr
Top 5 Tips For Getting Better Sleep
This article from George last year warrants a re-post as it seems to be one of the most important elements to health, performance, fat loss, etc… the topic has come up recently with some of our newer clients.
Tip #1: Sleep in a bat cave
Many people believe we are meant to sleep in caves, I’m not sure that’s entirely true, but I see the attraction; get yourself tucked away for the night, safe from all the beasts roaming around outside. Here’s a better reason; we require complete darkness to best stimulate the release of melatonin. Studies showed that it only took an LED light to be shone on the back of a sleeping subjects’ knee to interrupt melatonin release.
Why are we interested in this hormone? Because it plays a big role in our sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) by chemically inducing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature. Black out blinds are the best option for achieving total darkness, bearing in mind that it’s your skin that is sensitive to light, an eye mask will only partially help.
