Everyone knows that doing physical exercise is beneficial for health in different aspects, but now a study carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Tsukuba (Japan) has been more specific, stating that with just 10 minutes of running moderate intensity can improve your mood and cognitive function.
The evidence that existed until now about the benefits of exercise on mood had focused on cycling, but this is the first study that also associates it with running. The research has been carried out in a group of 26 healthy participants who ran on a static treadmill for 10 minutes at 50% of their VOtwo –oxygen consumption–, and brain changes were measured using the Stroop Color-Word Test, which shows hemodynamic changes in brain activity.
One of the tests that the participants had to do was to say the color in which the names of the colors were, for example, the word red is written in green and the participant had to name the color instead of reading the word. In order to do this, the brain must process both sets of information and discard the extraneous information.
More blood flow in the bilateral prefrontal cortex of the brain
The Stroop interference effect was quantified by the difference in response times for this task and those for a simpler version of the task, indicating the names of the color samples. Prefrontal hemodynamic changes during testing were investigated by functional near-infrared spectroscopy.
“Given the degree of executive control required to coordinate balance, movement, and propulsion during running, it stands to reason that there is greater neural activation in the prefrontal cortex.”
The results of the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, showed that after 10 minutes of moderate intensity running there was a significant reduction in the time of the interference effect of Stroop. In addition, an increase in local blood flow to the bilateral prefrontal cortex of the brain, a part that is responsible for controlling mood and executive functions, was also found.
“Given the degree of executive control required to coordinate balance, movement, and propulsion during running, it stands to reason that there is greater neural activation in the prefrontal cortex and that other functions in this region benefit from this increased brain resources. ”, clarifies Professor Hideaki Soya, main author of the study.
Since many of the features of the human prefrontal cortex are uniquely human, this study not only substantiates the benefits of running for brain and mental health, but could also shed light on the role these benefits might have played in the evolutionary past of human beings. people.
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