Prince DeesePrince Deese, an All American Wrestler, a Hall of Fame Football Player, and a State Champion Body Builder, is a certified personal trainer and strength conditioning specialist. Prince Deese and Gina Deese own A.C.T. by Deese, a Fitness & Training Center in Greensboro, NC.
The physical benefits of regular exercise are widely heralded; however, gauging its effect on cognitive function is a greater challenge.
Despite many obstacles, researchers at Harvard Medical School have found moderately intense aerobic exercise improves mental performance in three areas: reaction time, perception and interpretation of visual images, and executive control processes. The most positive influence was noted on tasks of executive control like planning, scheduling, coordination of people, places, and events and the ability to block out distractions.
Length of Exercise: Improved cognitive function begins to show after about 20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise and is maintained for about another 40 minutes. For very fit individuals, enhanced mental performance could continue beyond an hour. The improvements gained from 20 to 60 minutes of exercise are primarily related to increase in blood flow to the brain and stimulation of nerve cells to release more neurotransmitters (chemicals that send signals between brain cells). These positive effects are maintained for a short time after the exercise session as long as you are not overly fatigued.
Exercise intensity: Aerobic exercise that keeps you breathing a little faster and makes you sweat is probably the optimal intensity level to receive the mental boost. If you monitor your heart rate to guide your intensity level, you want to strive for about 75 percent of your maximal heart rate. With moderate intensity, your body activates the sympathetic nervous system and raises levels of adrenalin, the two main factors driving improvements in mental performance. (At high intensity of exercise, this sensation may interfere with concentration and ability to perform mental tasks.)
Importance of Fluid Intake: Dehydration is associated with a marked reduction in mental performance. Research has shown that the decreased cognitive function immediately after exercise-induced dehydration can be quickly reversed when fluids are given to return body weight to the pre-exercise level.
Feeding the Brain: The brain needs a constant supply of glucose to function normally. During exercise, the body prefers glucose as the main energy source for contracting muscles, including the heart and the muscles used to expand the lungs. At moderate intensity exercise of 20 to 60 minutes, there is still plenty of sugar available to the brain to allow the improved mental performance, but if prolonged, especially at high intensity, the amount of blood sugar to the brain may be an issue.
Boosting cognition: In the short run, each session of aerobic exercise on a stable piece of equipment such as a stationary bike, treadmill, or elliptical machine has the potential to give you a double benefit for your time spent. Not only will you be improving fitness, but your ability to concentrate and perform mental tasks also will likely be enhanced.
In the long run, multiple studies have shown that people who exercise regularly will have less age-related cognitive decline and lose less brain tissue, as seen on MRI and ET scans.