My history with the brain and neuroscience
Brain Awareness Week is March 15-21, 2021. Do you ever think about your brain, or how awesome it is? My passion is awakening brain awareness in my patients to help them improve their physical abilities. I have studied and been in awe of the brain since my days at NYU in the late 90’s, long before I ever thought about becoming a physical therapist. I had to figure out a major by my sophomore year of college, and unlike some, I hadn’t decided on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, or even the next 5 years. I thought back to the classes that I loved in high school. I remembered my wonderful biology teacher, and how she had awakened a love for biology in me, as well as my favorite class of senior year, Psychology Biology, or as we called it, Psycho Bio. Neuroscience was a combination of those subjects, and I declared it as my major.
After graduating from NYU, I started doing research in a developmental neurobiology lab at Tufts Medical School. While I loved research and doing experiments, performing them on animals (mice), started to take a toll on me. I also realized that I wanted to work with and help people, which led me to the field of physical therapy, where we combine science, medicine and movement to help people recover and reach their highest level of function. The brain is truly an amazing organ, and it works intimately with the rest of our body to perform amazing physical, mental, and emotional feats. I started Brain Body Synergy so that I could teach others the endless progress we can make, and goals we can reach, when we tap into our own powers. No matter what I see patients for, whether it be neck or low back pain, recovery from surgery, or balance issues, at the heart of it all is teaching them that they have nearly infinite ability to improve when they get their brain more intimately involved with their body.
Exercise benefits not only the body, but also the brain
Exercise is one of the best opportunities to engage your brain with your body, and provides an abundance of benefits not only for your body, but also for your brain. Studies have shown that exercise improves neurogenesis, which is the growth of new neurons, and neuroplasticity, which is the ability of nerve cells to form new neural connections, particularly in the hippocampus, an area largely responsible for learning and memory. Exercise increases production of neurotrophins, which are proteins that help support the survival and differentiation of our nerve cells. It improves blood flow to the brain, which improves oxygen saturation and blood vessel growth, particularly in brain areas associated with rational thinking and cognitive performance. Exercise also decreases inflammation, and lowers levels of stress hormones while increasing neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine, which accelerate information processing.
Additionally, research shows that when you think about performing a physical task, you get greater benefits, largely due to improved neuromuscular connections and efficiency. Muscle movement begins in the brain, and the brain plays a major role in regulating strength, even without moving a muscle. Studies have shown that we experience loss of strength and voluntary activation of muscle with prolonged immobilization (think of a cast), and that by simply performing mental imagery of strong muscle contractions, we can decrease the amount of loss that occurs. This means that activation of our brain alone has an effect on strength and voluntary motor control. Whether you are taking an exercise class, working with a trainer, or working out solo, being aware of how you are positioned, how you move, and how you feel, helps not only protect your body, but can also improve your performance and gains made.
I regularly teach my patients about how to get their brains involved in their exercise, movement, and rehabilitation. We often feel like we are either doing a cognitive task, or a physical one. The reality is, we are always performing both, and the more we can connect our brains with our bodies, the more we will improve how we perform and how we feel while doing the things we need, and want, to do!
Exercise In Nature
An outdoor workout can have immense benefits for your brain and body. It can lead to reduced stress, better sleep, improved mental health, greater happiness, reduced obesity, diabetes and inflammation, and improved immune system function and pain control. Nature allows us to immerse all our senses at once – touch, vision, sound, the fresh air that we breathe in. Time can fly when we are outdoors, so your workouts don’t feel like they are dragging on. Studies show that being active outdoors “reduces perceived effort and allows individuals to work at higher workloads, which may help increase the amount of physical activity taken and motivation to continue”.
Nature also provides increased challenges; for example running outside, even on flat terrain, requires more muscle to stride on than a treadmill. The powerful combination of exercise and nature can give us a natural high, as physical activity is invigorating and seeing nature relieves stress. Research has shown that the more beautiful a place is to you, the “greener” or “more blue” the environment is perceived, the stronger the positive effects are. Here in New England, we are lucky to experience the full swing of weather throughout the four seasons. Each season provides its own challenges and joys. I encourage you to get out there and be active in the stimulating outdoors!
Rest days are important!
Our brains and our bodies need to rest for recovery and progress, both cognitive, which includes forming new memories, and physical, which includes increasing muscle mass, and ridding the body of wastes. Sleep improves our brain health in many ways, including solidifying memories formed throughout they day, and linking new memories to older ones, which can improve creativity. Sleep allows our brain cells to clear out toxic wastes accumulated during the day, including harmful molecules associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Sleep affects the regulation of our appetite through hormones that make us hungry (ghrelin) and full (leptin). Sleep is often called beauty rest, and it does actually help us look good – it causes the release of growth hormone, which helps growth of new cells and repair of damaged tissue. Growth hormone also helps build stronger muscle after strenuous workouts.
Our bodies also need rest days from vigorous workouts. During strength training, we create microscopic tears in our muscle tissue. During periods of rest, fibroblast cells repair them, helping them to heal and grow, which results in stronger muscles. High-intensity exercise depletes our muscle energy stores (glycogen), and causes build-up of metabolic byproducts in muscle cells from burning the energy we need to fuel the workout. Rest days allow for the circulatory system to remove waste and deliver oxygen and nutrients to healing muscles, and give your body time to replenish your muscles’ energy stores. Rest days are also important for avoiding over-fatigue and/or overtraining, which can lead to decreased endurance, reaction times, and agility, or lead to overuse injuries caused by repetitive muscle stress and strain. Performing low-intensity cardiovascular activities, such as walking, can be performed every day, and you can strength train most days of the week; just be sure to work out different muscle groups on different days to allow for the aforementioned benefits.
So the next time you exercise, know that you are doing something good not only for your physical body, but also your cognitive brain, and the synergy between the two!
References:
2. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Understanding-Sleep#:~:text=Sleep%20is%20important%20to%20a,up%20while%20you%20are%20awake.
3. https://amerisleep.com/blog/sleep-impacts-brain-health/
4. https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/rest-day#benefits
5. https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/7176/8-reasons-to-take-a-rest-day/
6. https://www.self.com/story/get-more-out-of-every-workout-mind-muscle-connection
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