People who add a little yoga or tai chi to their daily lives can better remember where they put their keys. Irvine – Researchers at the University of California (UCI) and the University of Tsukuba have discovered that even very light exercises can increase connections between brain regions responsible for memory formation and storage.
In a study of 36 healthy adults, the researchers found that a light effort spent for 10 minutes could bring significant cognitive benefits. By studying the brains of subjects shortly after exercise periods using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, the research team found that the connections between the hippocampal dentate gyrus and the cortical regions associated with detailed memory processing improved.
The scientists’ findings were published in the PNAS bulletin four years ago.
“Hikopampus is very important in creating new memories,” says Michael Yassa, co-leader of the project and professor of neurobiology at the UCI. “It’s also one of the first regions of the brain that begins to deteriorate as we get older; Moreover, it is affected much more severely by Alzheimer’s disease. Improving the function of the hippocampus offers great hope in terms of improving memory.”
Neuroscientists also discovered that increased connectivity informs the degree of improvement in recall.
