Forget the brain games - just keep moving

The benefits of exercise are so major that it's a wonder why on earth we pass so much time on our backsides. From a very young age, we spend hours sitting down, whether that be in classrooms at desks, in lecture theatres, in offices or in our cars. There has been all sorts of talk over the years about ways to preserve and nourish the aging brain, often focusing on interventions such as brain games. Many approaches erronously view the brain itself as separate from the rest of the body.

Our brains shrink as we get older and slow in neuronal speed. This process starts more quickly than we realise and many people succumb to Alzheimers in their 50s. Regardless of whether we get this disease, nearly all of us will begin to find word recall more difficult and get stuck remembering peoples' names (this already happens to me!) Now there's mounting evidence that it's exercise that provides the greatest protection from brain shinkage as we get older. In fact, you're twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's if you're inactive compared to those with the highest levels of activity (vigourous exercise three times a week). We already know that physical exercise has a positive effect on memory overall: "Exercise increases neurotrophic factors ... which are necessary for survival of neurons, neuronal differentiation, and synaptic plasticity.^["

We just got to keep moving. Keep on moving!