Struggle to remember things? Go to the GYM: Exercise after learning helps us retain information 

  • But the benefits only happened if participants exercised four hours later
  • Exercising produces chemicals in our brains that help ‘fix’ memories'
  • 'We can improve memory consolidation by doing sports after learning.'

By Colin Fernandez Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Going to the gym not only makes you muscular, it can help boost your memory.

New research shows people given new information were more likely to retain it after going to the gym.

But the benefits only happened four hours later, the study revealed.

It seems exercising produces chemicals in our brains that help ‘fix’ memories - as long as we have had some time to mull them over.

Dutch researchers found those who exercised four hours after their learning session retained the information better two days later than those who exercised either straight after studying - or not at all.

It seems exercising produces chemicals in our brains that help ¿fix¿ memories - as long as we've had some time to mull them over

It seems exercising produces chemicals in our brains that help ‘fix’ memories - as long as we've had some time to mull them over

Professor Guillén Fernández, from Radboud University Medical Centre, in the Netherlands said: ‘Persistent long-term memory depends on successful stabilisation and integration of new memories after initial encoding.

‘This consolidation process is thought to require factors such as dopamine, noradrenaline, and brain derived neurotrophic factor.

‘Without the release of such factors around the time of encoding, memories will decay rapidly.

‘Recent studies have shown that physical exercise acutely stimulates the release of several consolidation promoting factors in humans, raising the question of whether physical exercise can be used to improve memory retention.’

Referring to the study he added: ‘It shows that we can improve memory consolidation by doing sports after learning.

‘Our results suggest that appropriately timed physical exercise can improve long-term memory and highlight the potential of exercise as an intervention in educational and clinical settings.’

'We can improve memory consolidation by doing sports after learning,' the researchers said

'We can improve memory consolidation by doing sports after learning,' the researchers said

The effects of a single session of physical exercise were tested after 72 participants were asked to try and retain newly learnt information.

They were asked to learn 90 picture-location associations in 40 minutes.

The group were then randomly split into three groups, who either exercised immediately, after four hours, or not at all.

Those made to work out spent 35 minutes on an exercise bike, set on a high enough intensity of up to 80 per cent of their heart rates.

Two days later, their brains were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to test how much they remembered.

The brain images also showed exercise after a time delay was linked to more precise representations in the hippocampus, an area important to learning and memory, when an individual answered a question correctly.

It's not yet clear exactly how or why delayed exercise has this effect on memory, but earlier studies of laboratory animals hint chemicals occurring naturally in the body, dopamine and norepinephrine, known as catecholamines can improve memory.

One way to boost catecholamines is through physical exercise.

Prof Fernández said they will now carry out a similar study to find out the influence exercise has on learning in more detail.

The findings were reported in the Cell Press journal, Current Biology. 

 

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