Abstract:
You have to move it if you don't want to lose it! Physical fitness is great for keeping bodies in shape but how important is physical fitness in helping to keep the brain in shape? It has been shown by research that a sedimentary life has a negative impact on the human brain. Exercise has been seen to stimulate nerve cells to produce chemicals like neurotrophic factors, this acts like fertilizer for the brain. Adrenaline and noradrenaline are also produced in the brain which wakes up the brain's processing systems. A stronger brain could mean improved mental focus, better decision making, and a faster healing time in patients. In this experiment, testing the effect of physical activity on memory is what will be done. Testing the memory with a set of 50 pictures and then using different styles of exercise to see which type of training methods will be most effective upon helping the memory to remember the set of pictures.
Introduction:
There are many benefits of participating in physical fitness like heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and even disabilities. Increasing physical activity has been shown to increase a healthy life in various studies. Although the benefits of exercise being helpful to the brain have not been as thoroughly researched as with the other benefits. There have been documented findings of exercise contributing to decreasing cognitive declines like memory. In research that involved animal models concluded that physical activity does indeed increase memory and learning, it also promotes neurogenesis (the growth of nervous tissue), and it protects the nervous system from injury and some neurodegenerative disease. In some clinical studies, it was found that exercise increased brain volume in areas where executive processing is involved (Ploughman, 2008). There are several studies that suggest the idea of exercise is a lifestyle factor that could lead to increased physical and mental health all through life.
In most research, it is found that in a period of six weeks of intense exercise ( short interval training of 20 minutes) is what showed the most significant improvement of high-high-interference memory, which allows people to distinguish their phone from another phone of the same make and model. In the study completed by Jennifer Heisz, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster, 95 participants were used that completed the six weeks of training. These training consisted of a combination of aerobic exercise and cognitive training or no training at all. The groups that received both cognitive training and exercise improved while the control group did not. Changes in aerobic fitness, memory, and neurotrophic factor, before and after the study were measured. The research concluded that a mechanism of how exercise and cognitive training may be changing the brain to support cognition, meaning that these two things work together in complementary pathways of the brain to improve high-high-interference memory. It was also found that of the participants who had a greater fitness gain experienced a larger increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth, function, and survival of brain cells.
In another study lead by Audry Duarte working at the memory and aging laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. This study was different as compared to Hesiz's study where the participants were assigned to do various types of aerobic exercise, but in Duarte's study participants weren't required to do strenuous exercise like the other studies. The participants of this other study were required to do leg lifts. Leg lifts are a form of resistance exercise which relies on the contraction of muscles to build strength. Only 46 participants were required of this study before doing the leg lifts the participants were given a set of 90 pictures completed the exercises then went home instructed to not do any more exercise. Two days later the participants returned to the lab for a test. A set of 180 pictures were shown to test if the participant recognized any from the original set. The findings resulted that the group that had done leg lifts scored almost 10 percent higher than the control group. This study involved people who did not exercise regularly.
Another study Guillén Ferenández and Eelco van Dongen of the Donders Institute at the Radbound University Medical Center in the Netherlands tested the effects of a single session of exercise after learning. This study consisted of 72 participants who learned 90 pictures over a period of 40 minutes before being assigned to one of the three random groups. Group one performed the exercise immediately after memorizing the pictures. Group two performed the exercise four hours later. Group three did not perform any exercise at all. The exercise consisted of 35 minutes of interval training on a stationary bike at an 80 percent intensity of the participant's max heart rate. Forty-eight hours later the participants returned to test how much their brains had memorized of the pictures given to them two days earlier, while their brains were viewed through an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine. The study yielded that the second group who exercised four hours after the learning session retained the information better two days later than the first group who exercised immediately after or the third group who didn't exercise at all. The images from the MRI showed that exercise after the time delay was associated with more representations in the hippocampus when a participant answered a question correctly. Therefore resulting that correctly timed physical exercise can improve long-term memory. This could be helpful in educational settings where children spend most of the time sitting down. In this report, the research will examine the effects of exercise on a critical brain function: memory.
Materials and Methods:
Participants:
A total of twenty young adults who regularly exercise will be randomized into four different groups: interval training group, resistance training group, aerobic training group, and no training group. Written informed consent will be obtained by all participants according to the IRB of Faulkner University.
Physical Training Program:
Participants in the interval training group will be involved in a 20-minute session of alternating between a curved treadmill to do sprints and a rower machine. The sprints will be only 100 meters and the rows will be of 150 meters. The participants of the resistance group will be complete a 20-minute full body weight lifting session. This will consist of the participants completing squats on a smith machine, deadlifts on a smith machine, chest presses on a bench, tricep pushdowns using a cable machine, bicep curls using dumbbells, and calf raises using the smith machine. Finally, the participants in the aerobic training group will run on their choice of a treadmill, outside, or on a track for 20 minutes.
Memory Testing:
The participants will be given a baseline memory test to see where they stand. This initial test will consist of a few objects set out on a table and the participants of each group will be given about 3 minutes to memorize the objects. The objects on the table will then be removed after the 3 minutes and the participants will be asked to write down as many of the items as they can remember in 3 minutes. In total, the baseline test will take about 6 minutes to complete. The tally will be taken of the results. After completing the training that each group will be provided with the participants will come back to take the same test but involving a different set item.
Materials:
The materials needed for the experiment will consist of 50 random pictures, a table, a cover to hide the items, dumbbells, a treadmill, a curved treadmill, a rowing machine, a smith machine, weights, a cable machine, a bench press, a timer, paper, and pens.
Methods:
Upon randomizing the participants into groups the baseline memory test will be administrated where the participants will have 3 minutes to memorize a set of 25 pictures out on a table once those 3 minutes are complete the participants will be given 3 minutes to write down the items pictured. The answers will be tallied on how many items have been identified. The following day the participants will return and will start the workouts set out for each group. Upon completing the workout all the participants will be sent into different areas to examine and memorize another set of 25 pictures in 3 minutes. Once those 3 minutes are up the participants will be given another 3 minutes to test how many of the pictures they can remember on paper. The results of this test will be tallied on how many pictures were correctly identified as well. The results for the baseline test and the second test will be recorded and the change between scores will be compared and recorded. Is there any significant difference before and after each person in the group or significant differences between the scores of a certain group? Do the different exercises indicate which group indicates a higher memory score? These are the questions that will be answered in this research.
Calendar:
This experiment will take about 2 days to complete and the data analysis will take about 2 days to complete as well.
Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank the Faulkner University Department of Natural and Physical Sciences, for allowing me the resources used to carry out this research. I would like to specifically thank Dr. Al Schlundt, for his guidance in helping me prepare and carry-out this experiment. I would also like to thank all of the voluntary participants and Norma Meyers who provided guidance and on-site assistance in case any of the participants were to get hurt.
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