Neurobiologists conducted an experiment to try to find out what effect pedaling on a stationary bike for 6 minutes at 70% of maximum capacity had after viewing a series of nature and animal photographs. When an hour later the subjects were subjected to a surprise memory test on the images they had previously seen, the results clearly showed that those who had done physical exercise had better memory than those who had not done sports. Participating subjects were between the ages of 50 and 85 years. Sabrina Segal and her Californian colleagues attribute this to the fact that norepinephrine , a chemical messenger in the brain that plays an important role in modulating learning and memory, is released during intense physical exercise.
"With an increasingly aging population, we need to figure out how to improve quality of life and prevent mental decline," says Segal, who is confident that exercise is one of the answers.
