It’s
great with a healthy heart but what about the brain?
The
human has approximately 60,000 thoughts per day and many of them - around 95
per cent - are the same thoughts we had yesterday and the day before.
You
don’t have to stop yourself thinking in a negative way, but simply notice
certain thoughts. The more you are aware of your thoughts, and the extent to
which you are influenced by them, the more you can take responsibility and
shift the negative thoughts into something positive.
About
20% of Australians are affected by depression; it is like diabetes or asthma,
an illness. We use the term depression in normal conversation to describe
distress or unhappiness due to something unpleasant that has happened to us.
This depression is perfectly normal, it is usually for a short period of time,
and usually doesn't last long or affect us much in the long term.
Compared
to depressive illness, which is a much more severe and prolonged condition with
persistent sadness, negativity, and difficulty coping.
From
research we now know that the gray area in the brain is the centre for our
attention, emotions, memory and consciousness. Related research also showed
that depressed patients had measurable changes in the amygdala and the
hippocampus, crucial in stress response. The amygdala is the central for
emotional life, but through research they have also now found that the memory
centre is also involved in stress and depression. In research in 1996 they
found that depressed patients hippocampus was 15% smaller than a control group,
which may explain why depressed patients sometime complain about learning and
memory trouble.
This
might also explain why Alzheimer's patient suffers from mood deterioration,
since the disease starts with erosion of the hippocampus.
Depression
doesn’t t only affect the brain but also the body, shutting down the drive to
sleep, eat, have sex and generally not feeling like looking after ourself.
In
the early 1990 scientists found that brain-derived neurotrophic factors
(BDNF)
protects neurons against cortisol (the stress hormone) in areas that control
mood, including the hippocampus. While very high levels of cortisol can
decrease BDNF, antidepressants and especially exercise can increase BDNF. It is
the boost of BDNF that encourages neurons to connect to one another and grow,
making it vital for neuroplasticity and neruogenesis.
The
great thing with exercise is that it gets us moving, which stimulates the brain
stem and gives us more energy, passion, interest, and motivation.
Exercise
doesn’t selectively influence anything, it adjusts the chemistry of the entire
brain to restore normal signals and make you think clearer and remember good
things.
Exercise
will not solve all the problems around depression but it definitely helps the
mood, even if it is just when we have had a bad day.
Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta
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