Exercise is very important to overall health, but I wonder what affect it has on memory. I found an interesting study on the topic and here is a summary of what was found:
"The study presents a comprehensive meta-analysis showing that aerobic exercise is an effective non-pharmaceutical intervention for improving episodic memory in adults aged 55 and older, without dementia.
Analyzing data from 36 randomized controlled trials with 2750 participants, the research indicates that significant improvements in episodic memory are associated with aerobic exercise regimens that exceed 3900 total minutes of activity, typically involving sessions that are 15–90 minutes long, three times per week, over a period of 18–39 weeks.
These findings are particularly prominent in groups with a younger mean age (55–68), a higher percentage of females, and participants with normal cognition, offering a promising, accessible strategy for enhancing cognitive health and memory function in late adulthood."
Here is a link to the study: Aerobic exercise improves episodic memory in late adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis | Communications Medicine
This study was focusing on older people (55-68) dealing specifically with episodic memory. Episodic memory is like a personal diary in your mind. It’s the part of your memory that stores specific events or episodes from your life. Imagine being able to remember your last birthday party, your high school graduation, or a special vacation.
Episodic memory helps you recall not just what happened, but also where and when it took place, and often how you felt about it. It’s essentially your collection of personal experiences and the emotions connected to them.
I know the study was done on people aged from 55-68, but I know the benefits can be applied to anyone of any age. This is another case of where you can’t just do aerobic exercise for a week and all of a sudden remember all your life events perfectly!
The benefits and improvements you will see would be a long game just like the other study I shared about the MIND diet. This fact makes it hard to know if you are actually doing anything beneficial for your memory since it can be years before you see the benefit.
But this won’t stop me from trying to ensure a strong memory later in life! I absolutely hate running, but it is a great form of aerobic exercise. I will added running everyday into my workout routine probably at the beginning so I can get the worse part over with haha
I am thinking about 10 to 20 minutes of running a day would be a good fit because I will still do other aerobic exercise outside of running. I just want to make sure that 10 to 20 minutes is meet for sure everyday.
What are some aerobic exercise you do? Which ones would you add to your workout to reap the benefits of a better episodic memory?