Scientists don’t know yet why swimming is better than other aerobic activities
It’s no secret that aerobic exercise can help stave off some of the ravages of aging. But a growing body of research suggests that swimming might provide a unique boost to brain health.
Regular swimming has been shown to improve memory, cognitive function, immune response, and mood. Swimming may also help repair damage from stress and forge new neural connections in the brain.
Dr. Mathew a neurobiologist and assistant professor of biology at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, explains that research has shown that the exercise releases a growth factor and peptide in your brain called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (or, BDNF for short). “It’s been found that when you have memory impairments and cognitive decline, you have lower levels of BDNF, and what has been seen is that swimming helps to increase those levels,” she says. “This helps with memory and cognition, so over time, your memory is improving or staying the same as you age instead of declining.”
The thing is, we don’t exactly know why all of this happens in your brain, only that it does. As Dr. Mathew put it in a recent, well-cited paper, “Researchers don’t yet know what swimming’s secret sauce might be, but they’re getting closer to understanding it.” Much of the research that has been done on the subject was conducted on rats, but one 2019 study conducted on 18 adult swimmers found that 20 minutes of swimming at a moderate pace helped to boost brain function, which is an indication that swimming for brain health could be the real deal, and we can begin to verify that with more research.
Swimming has long been recognized for its cardiovascular benefits. Because swimming involves all of the major muscle groups, the heart has to work hard, which increases blood flow throughout the body. This leads to the creation of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. The greater blood flow can also lead to a large release of endorphins – hormones that act as a natural pain reducer throughout the body. This surge brings about the sense of euphoria that often follows exercise.
The brain-enhancing benefits from swimming appear to also boost learning in children.
Another research group recently looked at the link between physical activity and how children learn new vocabulary words. Researchers taught children aged 6-12 the names of unfamiliar objects. Then they tested their accuracy at recognizing those words after doing three activities: coloring (resting activity), swimming (aerobic activity), and a CrossFit-like exercise (anaerobic activity) for three minutes.
They found that children’s accuracy was much higher for words learned following swimming compared with coloring and CrossFit, which resulted in the same level of recall. This shows a clear cognitive benefit from swimming versus anaerobic exercise, though the study does not compare swimming with other aerobic exercises. These findings imply that swimming for even short periods is highly beneficial to young, developing brains.
In studies in fish, scientists have observed changes in genes responsible for increasing BDNF levels as well as enhanced development of the dendritic spines – protrusions on the dendrites, or elongated portions of nerve cells – after eight weeks of exercise compared with controls. This complements studies in mammals where the brain-derived neurotrophic factor is known to increase neuronal spine density. These changes have been shown to contribute to improved memory, mood, and enhanced cognition in mammals. The greater spine density helps neurons build new connections and send more signals to other nerve cells. With the repetition of signals, connections can become stronger.
The details of the time or laps required, the style of swim, and what cognitive adaptations and pathways are activated by swimming are still being worked out. But neuroscientists are getting much closer to putting all the clues together.
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/0uoqjpu5hDc
- https://time.com/4841790/exercise-brain/
- https://www.wellandgood.com/swimming-for-brain-health/
- https://theconversation.com/swimming-gives-your-brain-a-boost-but-scientists-dont-know-yet-why-its-better-than-other-aerobic-activities-164297
- https://bandcaquatics.com/mental-benefits-of-swimming-for-kids/
- https://us-east-2.console.aws.amazon.com/polly/home/SynthesizeSpeech
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it seems like swimming is the most beneficial activity! Thank you for sharing this info.
You’re very welcome.
Thank you for sharing this! It was really interesting to know that swimming is good for the brain.
Thank you for the comment.
Yes, that is new to me too.
Healthy Brain, Happy Life!!