An Introduction to Swain's Brain (Science)
The next time somebody tells you, “Drinking kills brain cells,” you can tell them, “So does running marathons.”
That’s what Dr. Rodney Swain, neuroscientist and dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Milwaukee, found in his recent research. He's interested in the activities that we engage in day-to-day and how that structures the brain.
“We know that aerobic exercise produces dramatic effects really quickly – much more quickly than we previously had seen,” he says.
This doesn’t mean that running long distances is bad for your brain health. Cell death and regeneration can be a healthy way for your brain to improve itself. Aerobic exercise kills brain cells due to a lack of oxygen, and as Swain found, particularly those involved in learning and memory like the hippocampus and cerebellum.
Cells in these structures start to die a few hours after exercising, and your body saves them by sprouting new blood vessels in this area (angiogenesis). The new supply of extra blood allows brain cells to sprout and grow much more quickly, and your brain to take on more responsibilities of cognition, effectively making you better at learning. Perhaps the most interesting part is how quickly it can happen.
“We see that animals that are performing aerobic exercise can see effects on the speed with which they learn in as early as a week,” Swain says.
Of course, simply committing to aerobic exercise doesn’t make you smarter. Lance Armstrong would have a handful of Nobel Prizes if that were the case. Aerobic exercise needs to be complemented with working out your brain for it to improve your mental sharpness.
The growth of new brain cells (neurogenesis) gives your brain the ability to perform better. However, this doesn’t happen until the brain is challenged through learning. This could include playing an instrument, studying for a class, or memorizing information.
“It’s not that they’re just stronger and faster, they are actually 'smarter' at the end of this period,” Swain says.
As much as most of us may dread it, going for a run is definitely a good place to start in trying to improve and maintain brain health. If cramming your face into a book is not your cup of tea, long distance running can help make it easier to learn.
Stay tuned to the series to find out how Swain uses this research to find that the cerebellum, commonly considered part of the ‘reptilian brain,’ actually plays a part in social behavior, how exercising by choice compares to being forced to exercise, and possibly most importantly, how ADHD and autism can possibly be managed with a specific dose of healthy brain games.
