Her team collaborated with neurosurgeons who monitor electrical activity in patients undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery. These patients temporarily had electrodes implanted in their brains, meaning the team was able to observe the electrical activity before and after exercising on an exercise bike. Though the participants did not do any learning as part of the study, previous studies had indicated that “ripples” could be a candidate for cementing memories.

“That presents us with a unique opportunity to understand how the human brain works with direct measurements of electrical signalling, which is the primary currency of how the brain works,” Voss says. These ripples occur too quickly to be picked up by standard brain scans, making this study the first to show how exercise influences the brain’s electrical activity directly.  

This synchrony, she believes, may provide a biological explanation for why people often remember information better if they exercise shortly after learning it. And it only took a brief burst of activity to increase brain ripples – showing that even short bursts of activities could benefit our memory.

Voss hopes the work helps reframe public health messaging around physical activity and could help us think about ageing better too, especially as strengthening the areas important for memory could help protect the brain from cognitive decline.

At the same time, we know that regular bursts of activity provide us a range of other brain and body benefits too. Research shows that a single workout can improve focus for up to two hours afterwards, as well as immediately boost levels of the “feel-good” hormone dopamine.  

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Another recent study found that the more we exercise and the fitter we become, the more benefit our brain gets from after a single workout. Any physical activity is clearly beneficial, but this new study revealed that the brain benefits increase the more active we are.

This happens because higher cardiovascular fitness and muscle mass enable the body to produce more of a protein vital for forming new brain connections, called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF).

“There’s a reason to stay active because you will benefit more every time,” says Flaminia Ronca, an exercise physiology researcher at University College London in the UK, who led the study. “If you stick with exercise for six weeks, you will reap bigger benefits from any further sessions.”

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