Forgotten where you kept your car keys? Take a run and jog your memory, says new study

If you’ve begun to forget where you left your car keys or are searching for your glasses when they are on your head, then you’ve got to read this. Usually moderate to intense activity is associated with lowering of cardiac and blood sugar risks. But latest research shows that it can also help us improve our memory.
A recent study from Dartmouth College focusses on how the intensity of exercise, over a period of time, may play an important role in bolstering different types of recall. The study, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, was based on a year’s Fitbit activity data of 113 participants, all of whom also completed a series of memory tests, like recalling details from a short story, spatial details, foreign language terms and ls of random words. They took the memory tests after bouts of different activities.
The New York Times quoted Jeremy Manning, a professor at Dartmouth College and one of the authors of the study, as saying, “You can get a much more nuanced picture from activity tracker data.” If we were to sum up the study, then the following patterns have emerged: Active people had better memories compared to those sedentary. Then there were degrees. People who engaged in light to moderate activity, such as going out for regular walks, had better “episodic” memory or the ability to remember details about everyday events. Those who exercised more intensely, say going for a run or workout, did better on spatial memory tasks, which involve recalling objects and their locations. Although a number of earlier studies had shown that high-intensity exercise improves memory, this study classifies which category of exercise is good for which type of memory.
“Have you ever wondered what benefits a person is exposed to exercising regularly? While most people would think exercising regularly helps in body building, there have been studies proving that high intensity workout sessions have a major impact on a person’s memory as well. Regular exercise not only protects people against chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease but also improves one’s mental health,” says Dr Vipul Gupta, Director, Neuro-Intervention, Artemis Agrim Institute of Neurosciences, Artemis Hospital
Even a single workout session can help one recall past details more clearly, he says. “Engaging in exercises daily helps improve a person’s memory and protects the brain against any future memory problems. Exercising contributes to a healthy and balanced routine which leads to a stress-free life that ultimately makes a person happier in terms of their mental health. Exercising regularly helps boost a person’s memory directly as well as indirectly. The direct effect exercise has on the body is through stimulating physiological changes. There are reductions in insulin resance along with inflammation and encouragement of production of growth factors like chemicals affecting the growth of new blood vessels in the brain. Exercise can help boost memory and thinking power of the brain improving one’s mood and quality of sleep or reducing the amount of stress and anxiety inferred them. In worst cases, lack of sleep or depression can sometimes cause or lead to cognitive impairment,” says Dr Gupta.
“While there is no one specific type of exercise which leads to better brain chemry, walking is said to be the best among them. But other forms of aerobic exercises which get one’s heart pumping faster can also yield similar benefits. Studies have shown that walking can lead to better episodic memory which means a person will be able to remember the details about day-to-day events better. On the other hand, people who get involved in intense workouts are more likely to have a better spatial memory, meaning they remember physical relationships of objects and locations like where they put their keys etc. Cognitive functions, including working memory and attention span, are said to benefit from physical exercise. A person exercising regularly for six months will be able to perform memory tasks better than people exercising once a month or two,” he adds.
Of course, Dr Gupta agrees that more study needs to be done to probe deeper associations between each workout and the memory pattern it addresses best. But this is a good first attempt, he feels.
(Dr Vipul Gupta is trained in Interventional Neuroradiology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi where he also worked as Associate Professor till 2005. He completed his fellowship from Foundation Rothschild, Paris (2005) and Cleveland clinic USA (1999). Dr Gupta has been visiting Professor in UMASS General Hospital, Boston, USA)