TBI Health and Wellness
Exercise and your brain
A short, easy version
Words to understand before you start:
- Cognition: all of your thought processes, like remembering, problem solving, processing information, learning new things, etc.
- Neurotransmitters: chemicals that surround nerves that help them conduct nerve impulses and messages quickly and accurately. It's kind of like "transmission fluid."
- Plasticity: a word used to describe the brain's ability to change and repair itself. A very plastic brain is one that is able to change, heal, and learn new ways of doing things.
What is Cognition?
It's all the kinds of thinking you do. It can be affected after a brain injury. These are all types of cognition:
- Remembering
- Keeping focused
- Learning and understanding new things
- Figuring things out
- Adding, subtracting, and other kinds of math
- Finding the right words when you are talking
- Solving problems and making decisions
- Thinking clearly and not being confused
How do we know exercise helps cognition?
It's very complicated. It may even be a little hard to believe, but here is what happens in your brain with exercise:
- Exercise brings more blood to your brain. More blood means more nutrition for your brain. Good nutrition makes your brain work better. It could make you think faster, more clearly, and longer. It could make it easier to remember things.
- Exercise also lowers the fat in your blood. Fat can clog your arteries. If it does, the brain doesn't get the blood it needs. Not enough blood means not enough nutrition.
- Exercise affects chemicals in your brain. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters. They're like "transmission fluids" for your nerves. Exercise increases these transmission fluids. This makes nerve impulses travel faster and more accurately. This can help you think and process better.
- Exercise may also improve brain "plasticity." This is the
brain's ability to change and fix itself if it is damaged. It makes sense that if you have had damage to your brain, having more plasticity would be a very good thing.
- Exercise changes your brain. It causes more blood vessels to be built, and it builds them close together. More blood vessels mean more blood. More blood means better nutrition and better brain function.
What kind of exercise is best?
- Exercise that involves movement.
- An exercise that is a little bit hard. If it makes you focus or learn something new, that is good.
- Exercise is best when you do it often. Several times a week is best. And you need to keep doing it week after week, and month after month. You need to do it so your level of fitness improves.
- Exercise that includes changes in scenery is good. Workouts that involve interacting with other people are also good. The less "boring" or automatic the exercise is, the better. But don't get the wrong idea: Any kind of exercise is good.
- You do not need to push yourself to the limit or exhaust yourself. It makes sense: when you are totally fatigued, you can't function as well.
- Bottom line: Any exercise could help!
Where should you start?
If you're not sure where to start, check with your doctor. If you have any other kind of problems, with your balance or coordination, or if you have weakness or paralysis, talk to a physical therapist before you start. You need to know what kind of exercise is best, and how to do it safely. And, there is no need to over-do it!
Good luck!
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