Exercise is good for you, you know that by now. It keeps you fit, improves your mood, makes you socialize and allows you to indulge in the real luxury these days: having your “me-time”.<\/p>\n
Now science is understanding in more and more detail where the well-being generated by sports activity comes from. We already knew about endorphins and runner’s high (the euphoric feeling you have after running or exercising more generally). Now the mechanisms governing these positive reactions are becoming increasingly clear. But to get to know them, we need to familiarize with some somewhat strange names. Hello? Go!<\/p>\n
We meet our first hero: brain neurotrophic factor or BDNF, one of the most important molecules in brain processes, responsible for the formation of connections between neurons and synapses. Sport stimulates its production, and several positive effects follow from this. In fact, the more active the brain is, the more creative and productive it can be. Accelerated activity in areas of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus allows one to be more responsive and capable of complex thinking, and thus to find stimuli and solutions. You are, in short, more responsive and capable of solving issues that a lazy brain would not easily handle.<\/p>\n
It also appears that BDNF stimulates the creation of new brain cells, although this phenomenon has only been demonstrated with laboratory guinea pigs because it would require a measurement in humans that involves opening the skull (somewhat uncomfortable and creepy, as well as having some predictable life consequences). People have long been discussing and trying to prove that brain cells are not only destined to decrease in number-one of the things they taught us in school-but that, in fact, they can reproduce and multiply over time. It would be one of the most important demonstrations in the field.<\/p>\n