{"id":355685,"date":"2026-03-30T19:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/355685\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T19:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:56:20","slug":"20-minutes-of-cycling-a-day-may-boost-your-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/355685\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Minutes Of Cycling A Day May Boost Your Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

We already know that exercise seems to reduce dementia risk<\/a> (a 2022 paper found <\/a>that walking 3,800 steps a day may lower your likelihood of developing dementia by 25%, with increasing benefits up to 9,800 steps). <\/p>\n

Even when it\u2019s not directly dementia-related, movement appears to improve<\/a> memory and thinking skills.<\/p>\n

A recent paper, published in Brain Communications<\/a>, has found that 20 minutes of cycling a day can create \u201cripples\u201d in the brain that might help us to process and store information more efficiently. <\/p>\n

How did cycling seem to affect participants\u2019 memory? <\/p>\n

The research involved 14 participants aged from 17-50. They tracked their brain activity before and after 20-minute stationary cycling sessions through an intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG). <\/p>\n

The iEEG measures electrical activity in the brain, which provides an added layer of detail.<\/p>\n

Previously, scientists had noticed \u201cripples\u201d<\/a> in the minds of rats, which were believed to improve their memories after exercise, though these had not been seen in humans before.<\/p>\n

But the iEEGs in this research saw similar results after the participants completed their exercise. <\/p>\n

Speaking to Medical News Today<\/a>, study author Dr Juan Ramirez-Villegas said, \u201cRipples are very brief bursts of highly synchronised electrical activity in the brain\u2019s memory centre, the hippocampus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn animals, they are known to play a key role in stabilising memories after an experience. You can think of them as moments when the brain rapidly \u2018reviews\u2019 information, helping convert recent experiences into lasting memories.\u201d <\/p>\n

They might also help<\/a> to regulate blood sugar in animals, the study added.<\/p>\n

The study found that the higher someone\u2019s heart rate got during the cycling session, the stronger those \u201cripples\u201d seemed to be. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis suggests that the intensity of physical activity may influence how strongly the brain\u2019s memory circuits respond,\u201d stated Dr Ramirez-Villegas. <\/p>\n

That might not be the only benefit <\/p>\n

Aside from the \u201cripple\u201d effect, this research also seemed to help different parts of the brain communicate better, potentially leading to improved memory. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is surprising how after a session of acute exercise, hippocampal-cortical communication seems to be enhanced, a phenomenon thought to be strongly linked to memory processing,\u201d Dr Ramirez-Villegas said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis suggests that even a brief bout of physical activity can influence the neural dynamics involved in learning and memory.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We already know that exercise seems to reduce dementia risk (a 2022 paper found that walking 3,800 steps…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[565,134,6805,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-355685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-memory","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}