The positive health effects of exercise have been well documented. At this point in each of our lives, we are all aware that even the most minimal form of physical fitness triggers the release of endorphins which positively effect mood and memory. This, in turn, serves to resolve a number of health problems while preventing those we have yet to face. A host of physiologic conditions (blood pressure, cholesterol, joint diseases) are each improved by exercise. None of this is new, which is why our primary care physicians can’t stress enough how important it is for us to work out. In addition to what we already know, this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine takes the gauntlet up a step further in its article entitled: “Phys Ed: Why exercise makes you less anxious.”
Researchers are reporting on results they have noticed occurring in our brains (well, for now it’s the brains of rats but we’re not too far off). They’ve found that exercise actually has the ability to create new neurons (brain cells) within the brain, and these new brain cells actually have the ability to cope with stress better than existing ones. It’s as if the newer versions of the brain’s cells are genetically superior because of what the previous version of neurons had to endure; it’s like they are learning (Singularity, anyone?) The experiments, conducted by researchers at Princeton University (Yeah, Jersey!) recently found that these new cells in the brains of rats are actually better able to cope with stress. This evidence was reported upon observation of two groups of rats, exercised and sedentary, which exhibited surprisingly different results after they put in a new maze or made to swim in cold water. The rats that performed exercise programs were able to explore the maze while their lazy and sloth-like counterparts meekly hid in a corner. The swimmers had less stress in their newly created brain cells.
Michael Hopkins, a graduate student, states that “it looks more and more like the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways within the brain so that they’re more equipped to handle stress in other forms. It is pretty amazing, really, that you can get this translation from the realm of purely physical stresses to the realm of psychological stressors.” This kind of finding is remarkable, oh my readers. There seems to be a crossover in the brain between the physical stress of exercise and its psychological counterparts.
What does this all mean to me? I guess it’s just another reason to get up off those couches, out to Route 80 and “Run, Forest. Run!”