That Neuroscience Guy - Neuroscience Bites-Exercise and the Brain

Episode Date: June 16, 2022

Many people, including us on the podcast, will tell you that exercise is good for the brain. But why is exercise good for our brain? In today;'s neuroscience bite, we explain how exercise benefits the brain. 

Hi, my name is Olof Kregolsen and I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Victoria. And in my spare time, I'm that neuroscience guy. Welcome to another Neuroscience Bite. Every day I leap out of bed at 5am and I go for a morning walk. Why do I go for a walk every morning at 5am? Because I believe exercise is good for morning walk. Why do I go for a walk every morning at 5 a.m.? Because I believe exercise is good for me and I know it's good for my brain. And why 5 a.m.? Well, I'm one of those annoying people that gets up early and starts the day that way. But why is exercise good for the brain? I've said that a lot on this podcast. Exercise is good for your brain. You should exercise. It's good for your brain. But why exactly? I feel like I haven't explained that well. So on this bite, I'm just

going to quickly run through why exercise is good for the brain and get into the nuts and bolts of it. So number one, exercise results in increased cerebral blood flow. More blood goes through the brain. Now, why is that good? Well, one, it brings oxygen. Why is oxygen important? Because when neurons fire, they need oxygen to recharge. So if you don't bring oxygen to the neurons, they literally stop firing and your brain stops working. So increased cerebral blood flow results in more oxygen, which helps neurons function more effectively. And that blood flow also brings nutrients, which are important for the brain's health and keep it working efficiently. Now, while these two things are coming in with increased

cerebral blood flow, some things are going out. That cerebral blood flow is removing CO2, so exercise results in more CO2 being removed, which is a good thing, and it also removes some other toxic things which aren't good for your brain health. Now, in addition to increased cerebral blood flow, some cool research from Berkeley has highlighted some other reasons why exercise is good for the brain. Well, exercise results in the release of endorphins. That's that runner's high that people talk about.

And one of the benefits of this is it helps you connect with others. When you're in that sort of happy state brought on by endorphins, you're more likely to be social. And we know, based on previous episodes, that being social is good for your brain. Exercise can also make your brain more sensitive to joy. Basically, exercise helps rewire the dopamine system. And as a result of that, we're more likely to be happy. Exercise can even make you more brave. Exercise results in changes in the hardwired fight or flight response within the central nervous system. And those changes can only make you a little bit more courageous. Now,

it doesn't mean you're going to go out and get in a fight, but it means you might be more likely to take on something you might've walked away from. And lastly, research has even shown that lactate, that byproduct of exercise that makes you a little bit sore, actually has a positive effect on mental health. That lactate, as it travels through the bloodstream to the brain, basically helps reducing anxiety and protecting against depression. So there you go. A couple of awesome reasons why exercise is good for the brain and hopefully a little bit of depth to explain why I keep saying it over and over again. Now, remember, if you got some ideas for the podcast, you can follow me on Twitter at that NeuroSci guy and DM me. I'm happy to listen

to what you have to say because we're looking for ideas. We want to know what you want to know about the neuroscience of everyday life. And of course, the website's up, that neuroscienceguy.com. You can support us through Patreon. You can buy t-shirts from the Etsy store. All the money goes to the grad students. And of course, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and please subscribe. My name is Olof Kregolsen and I'm that neuroscience guy. Thanks for listening to this neuroscience bite.