Thirty minutes protect your brain for a lifetime

The study was conducted by researchers at the American University of Maryland, and their results were published in the latest issue of the Scientific Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

To arrive at the study's findings, the researchers measured the brain activity using fMRI of healthy participants aged 55 to 85.

The team also asked participants to perform memory tasks that included identifying famous and unpopular names.

According to the study, the process of remembering famous names activates a neural network related to semantic memory, which is known to deteriorate over time due to memory decline in the elderly.

These tests were conducted 30 minutes after an intense exercise session on an exercise bike, and then they ran the same tests but on a rest day when the participants did not exercise.

The researchers found that exercise activated the brain in 4 cortical areas responsible for memory, the most prominent of which was the “hippocampus” - which works to integrate and retrieve information when needed - compared to rest.

The researchers pointed out that the hippocampus shrinks with age and the brain region is exposed to harmful proteins that lead to Alzheimer's disease.

"Previous studies have shown that regular exercise can increase the volume of the hippocampus, but our study provides new information that intense exercise has the ability to affect this important area of ​​the brain," said lead researcher Carson Smith.

"Just as muscles adapt to repetitive exercise, single exercise sessions may enhance neurocognitive networks in ways that enhance their adaptation to aging, increase network integrity and function, and allow for more effective access to memories."

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, and it leads to persistent deterioration in thinking abilities and brain function, and memory loss. The disease progresses gradually to the loss of the ability to carry out daily activities, and to communicate with the environment, and the condition may deteriorate to the point of lack of functional performance.