The brain used to be the one organ that researchers believed was pretty unchanging over time, in contrast to other organs that are always replenishing themselves. After all, the brain sort of
has to stay constant if it’s going to keep all our memories and experiences intact over the course of our lifetimes. But in recent years, neuroscientists have found that indeed the brain does retain some plasticity – malleability – and it seems to become considerably more plastic when people exercise their bodies. Now, a new
study finds that an area of the brain involved in vision, originally thought to be fairly resistant to change, also responds strongly to short bouts of exercise. The discovery is exciting, and it makes you wonder what other effects exercise might have on the brain, especially over the course of a lifetime.
The team of researchers behind the new study replicated a setup that had been done in animals before: They had people wear eye patches, and either exercise or sit still and watch a movie. Normally, when a person or animal wears an eye patch, the covered eye becomes stronger to compensate for the lack of input. In the current study, when people exercised intermittently on a stationary bike, their covered eye became significantly stronger, compared with the people who were sedentary. Which suggests that the brain may enter a state of increased plasticity as a response to physical exercise.
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- See more at:
http://www.stonehearthnewsletters.com/exercise-may-make-brain-flexible/benefits-exercise/#sthash.MZTy9WPh.tUYQM8tp.dpuf
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