Like running pumps brain

Sport And Fitness Health / by admin / December 19, 2019

Runners to think quickly, better control attention and buzz from jogging as opium.

No one will argue that race affects the muscles and the heart. But when it comes to mood or mind, there are doubts.

We forget that emotions and thoughts - this is not some strange substance, and our brain food, as a force - muscle product. Our perception, pleasure, attention, mood - it all depends on how this body and what chemical processes occur in it.

Tells how running affects the process of learning and mood and what changes occur during his brain.

Increases processing speed

Long energetic jogging speeds up your brain response to environmental stimuli.

scientists have discoveredCortical neural arousal is differentially affected by type of physical exercise performed so using the test with critical flicker frequency: man looks at the flickering light signal flashes repeated everything faster, until merge into the flat light. The longer a person notices the flicker, the greater the excitement of the cerebral cortex and the speed of information processing.

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experiment, participants were asked to take the test before and after the 30-minute run. It was found that after prolonged vigorous jogging increased cortical arousal in men. Super intensive short run such an effect had.

After running you will quickly absorb new information and solve problems.

Improves attention and his ability to control

Running affect the executive functions of the brain: the ability to plan, to adapt to the circumstances and to choose what to focus on. And not only the long run, but also sprint.

scientists have discoveredSprint-based exercise and cognitive function in adolescentsThat just 10 minutes of interval sprint significantly improved results in the Stroop test, which should be called color labels, not being distracted by the text.

Moreover, the effect of permanent cross-training buildsInterval Running Training Improves Cognitive Flexibility and Aerobic Power of Young Healthy AdultsSeven weeks of regular races to improve a person's ability to adapt to new circumstances and to act effectively in the new environment.

In this case, the brain works better not only immediately after the run. From regular aerobic exercise in it long-term sustainable change to occur.

Scientists studied the runners and non-sporting people in a state of rest, without prior runs. And at first we found a strong relationshipDifferences in Resting State Functional Connectivity between Young Adult Endurance Athletes and Healthy Controls in the frontoparietal network of the brain responsible for Attention, Working memory and other executive functions.

At the same time the athletes were oppressed brain passive mode (Default mode network, DMN), in which a person thinks relaxed, distracted and jumps from thought to thought.

Even at rest, the runners easier to concentrate and remove distracting thoughts than unsportsmanlike people.

It protects against depression

Passive mode is often associated with depressionRumination and Default Mode Network Subsystems Connectivity in First-episode, Drug-Naive Young Patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Reducing the time of its functioning runners helps to protect mental health.

However, this is not the only mechanism of protection against depression. In addition to the DMN, running affects the brain through the kynurenine metabolism.

This material was formed from the amino acid tryptophan. One part of the tryptophan is converted into serotonin and melatonin - the hormone needed for a good mood and sound sleepAnd the other - in the kynurenineKynurenines in pathogenesis of endogenous psychiatric disorders.

Under the influence of stress and inflammation kinureninovy path begins to dominate and development is inhibited serotonin. In the brain kynurenine converted into different substances: harmful neurotoxins (3-gidroksikitonurin) or useful neuroprotectors (kynurenic acid).

Running helps to shift the balance in favor of the latter. In skeletal muscle endurance during prolonged exercise throwEndurance exercise increases skeletal muscle kynurenine aminotransferases and plasma kynurenic acid in humans. kynurenine aminotransferase - a substance that converts kynurenine in acid.

This prevents its accumulation, helps to protect the brain and prevent depression caused by stress.

It brings a sense of euphoria

After a long run brings a state of euphoria. It is known to many athletes, but until recently scientists did not understand how the mechanism for that.

In the 80-90-ies was a popular idea of "endorphin rush". Several studies have confirmed that during the run time increasesIncrease of circulating beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity correlates with the change in feeling of pleasantness after running levels of beta-endorphins. These substances act on opioid receptors and have similar effect with opioids.

In 2008, thanks to the research of German scientists confirmed this theory. Using positron emission tomography, they showedThe Runner's High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human BrainThat after two hours of running appears effect on opioid receptors in different brain regions. And it coincides with a sense of euphoria, which reported to the runners.

Also, scientists believe that in the euphoria of the athlete involved partially endokannabioidyExercise-induced endocannabinoid signaling is modulated by intensity. Just 30 minutes running with average intensity increases their number, reducingA runner's high depends on cannabinoid receptors in mice anxiety and pain.

This exposure is safe for health, but everything is good in moderation. When an incredibly intense race begins exhausting flights are bad for the brain.

So, the researchers scanned the brains of runners before, during and after the trans-European ultramarathon by 4 500 kilometers. Half of this crazy race gray matter decreased in marathonSubstantial and reversible brain gray matter reduction but no acute brain lesions in ultramarathon runners: experience from the TransEurope-FootRace Project in the amount of 6% - for the month of their brain as if aged 30 years.

Fortunately, eight months after the adventure race of gray matter volume increased to the previous values.

Since very few people capable of such range, there is no danger of serious damage. From the long runs you only get benefits: improve attention and speed of information processing, learn to better cope with stress and protect yourself from depression.