Can Exercise Boost Your Memory?

The benefits of exercise are unchallenged, from strengthening muscles and lowering blood pressure to boosting the mood by producing feel-good endorphins. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Iowa is claiming that a single, 20-minute session of exercise can improve the memory.

Led by cognitive neuroscientist Michelle Voss, the study found that for some older people, the brain-boosting effects of working up a sweat can be almost instantaneous. The preliminary study included 34 people with an average age of 67. All underwent MRI brain scans and were also asked to complete memory tests.

20 minutes of exercise shown to improve memory and brain connections

After completing a single 20-minute session on a stationary self-pedalling bike, Voss and her colleagues found that participants were better at recalling photographs of previously seen faces. Furthermore, secondary MRI scans showed that exercise also increased certain connections between important areas of the brain.

Interestingly, the study also found that working up a sweat for just 20 minutes mirrors the same cognitive benefits as committing to regular exercise for three months. Voss maintains that the similarity "suggests we don’t have to wait three months to see an improvement,” cognitive neuroscientist Michelle Voss of the University of Iowa in Iowa City said. “We can get a day-by-day boost.”

Study supports concept of personalised medicine

While exercise did boost memory capacity for some participants, the study also found that some participants were unresponsive. Interestingly, people whose memory improved after 20 minutes of exercise also enjoyed positive changes after three months, however participants who didn't respond to short bouts of exercise also failed to reap the long-term benefits. This didn't dishearten the team, with Voss asserting that the varied results could simply indicate the need for customisation.

“If it’s not working for some people, that’s good to know,” she says. “But you can go one step further and ask, ‘Are the reasons it’s not working modifiable?"

Cognitive neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki agrees, predicting that the concept of 'personalised' medicine and exercise could be used to help improve public health. “The key word is ‘personalised’ medicine,” she says. “Can it be designed for you at your age and fitness level and gender and genetic background?”

From MRI scanners to computer software programmes, technology plays a key role in powering scientific research. For a closer look at how beverage companies rely on advanced technology to maintain standards and consistency don't miss 'The Analysis of Flavours in Beer with ChromSync Software'.