Having trouble acing your finals? Well here’s one way to improve your performance–get on the treadmill.
The research, which was headed by scientists from Michigan State University, found that those were more fit were able to memorize and recall more information better than those who weren’t.
The study is published in the online version of the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience.
“The findings show that lower-fit individuals lose more memory across time,” says Kimberly Fenn, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University. “Findings revealed an association between aerobic fitness and memory function such that individuals with lower cardiorespiratory fitness exhibited poorer implicit memory performance and poorer long-term memory retention.”
In the study, Fenn and her colleagues, which included kinesiology researchers Matthew Pontifex and Karin Pfeiffer, recruited 75 college students to see how physical activity affected their ability to retain information–something that obviously plays a huge role in their school performance. To do so, she first analyzed the students to gauge their current fitness level, of which some of them were described as being “sedentary.”
Then, over a three day period, she tested their cognitive ability by having them study word pairs during the first day, asking them to recall the same word pairs the next day.
“The implications of those [sedentary] lifestyle choices and related cardiorespiratory fitness levels for memory function are not well-understood,” says Fenn. “To determine the extent to which cardiorespiratory fitness relates to the integrity of multiple memory systems, a cross-sectional sample of young adults were tested over the course of 3 days in areas related to implicit memory, working memory, long-term memory, and aerobic fitness.”
As it turned out, those who were in poor cardiovascular shape had the hardest time recalling this information–whereas those described as being physically fit performed significantly better. Those who weren’t in good physical shape also seemed to struggle with retaining the initial information.
For Fenn, this shows just how important exercise is for a person’s health–both physically and mentally.
“Epidemiological investigations have revealed increases in the prevalence of sedentary behaviors in industrialized societies,” says Fenn. “These data indicate that cardiorespiratory fitness may be important for the optimal function of neural networks underlying these memory systems.”
What You Should Do
While Fenn doesn’t offer any suggestions on how to interpret these findings, health experts say this study shows how important it is to stay physically fit. Your best bet: To get fit, a 30 minute bout on the treadmill every other day of the week can do wonders for your physical and mental capacity. Keeping active in your day-to-day life, such as choosing to walk to campus instead of taking the bus or car, is also great for amping up your memory.
Readers: What else do you do to improve your memory?
Sources:
Out of Shape? Your Memory May Suffer, According to Researchers – MSU.edu
Study: Fit Students Have Better Long-Term Memories Than Those Who are Sedentary – link.springer.com
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