Charles Teves
- Active people are better at reasoning and memory
- Cognitive performance is lower when it comes to unfit people
German researchers at the University of Münster say that people who are active and exercise regularly have sharper brains.
The study had 1,206 participants, which had their fitness routines and MRIs examined by scientists.
Respondents that were labeled as ‘active’ were better at reasoning and had better memories.
The reason for this is because exercising increases blood flow to the brain.
Professor Peter Falkai, from the Munich Center for Neurosciences, says that the study is important when it comes to the relation of working out and cognitive capabilities of healthy adults.
“This was backed by changes in the white matter status of the brain supporting the notion that better macro-connectivity is related to better brain functioning.
‘It stresses the importance of physical activity at all stages of life and as preliminary recent evidence suggests one can start improving physical health even in later life even if one has never trained before,” he added.
Preventing dementia, stress, and depression can be combatted by being active, although there are no clear reasons why.
The respondents’ were asked to walk as far as they can for two minutes and their distances were recorded.
The researchers found that the fittest participants had better cognitive function and had better memory.
Younger participants who were healthy but less fit were found to have lower levels of cognitive skills.
“It surprised us to see that even in a young population cognitive performance decreases as fitness levels drop. This leads us to believe that a basic level of fitness seems to be a preventable risk factor for brain health,” said the researchers.
The researchers are looking forward to conducting a new study on finding out if the brain of an unfit individuals changes if he or she becomes active.
