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Os benefícios do exercício que vão além do físico
O exercício é sinónimo de saúde física e mental, como revela a neurocirurgiã Wendy A. Suzuki, num artigo publicado no site Quartz


LIFESTYLE SAÚDE POR NOTÍCIAS AO MINUTO
   
Ao serem perguntadas por que fazem exercício físico, as pessoas costumam dizer que o fazem para perder uns quilinhos e ficar tonificado. No entanto, a atividade física é muito mais do que um corpo bonito, saudável e tonificado.

O exercício é sinónimo de saúde física e mental, como revela a neurocirurgiã Wendy A. Suzuki, num artigo publicado no site Quartz, em que defende os benefícios mentais do exercício como os mais importantes, mas também mais desvalorizados.

Falando por experiência própria, a médica revela como o exercício a ajuda a combater o estresse e a produção de todas os hormônios que ‘trazem’ os sentimentos negativos, mas não só. Num estudo que realizou, Suzuki conseguiu ainda comprovar que o exercício melhora a concentração ao longo do dia.

Os níveis de memória também melhoram assim que a atividade física se torna uma rotina quase diária, como indica uma investigação da Universidade da Califórnia, que provou que o exercício aumenta a produção e a sobrevivência das células cerebrais do hipocampo.

De acordo com a publicação, o exercício pode ser também capaz de melhorar as funções imaginativas do hipocampo, melhorando a imaginação e a capacidade de criar novas ideias.

Tal como a ciência tem vindo a revelar nos últimos anos, o exercício físico regular é também uma chave para travar o declínio cognitivo precoce, podendo ser uma forma de evitar o aparecimento de doenças como o Alzheimer.

....

O Artigo da Quartz com as referências:

GET MOVING
A neuroscientist says there’s a powerful benefit to exercise that is rarely discussed

 Exercise gives ours brains an immediate boost. (Reuters/Will Burgess)

WRITTEN BY Wendy A. Suzuki
January 13, 2016
When I was about to turn 40, I started working out regularly after years of inactivity. As I sweated my way through cardio, weights, and dance classes, I noticed that exercise wasn’t just changing my body. It was also profoundly transforming my brain—for the better.

The immediate effects of exercise on my mood and thought process proved to be a powerful motivational tool. And as a neuroscientist and workout devotee, I’ve come to believe that these neurological benefits could have profound implications for how we live, learn and age as a society.

Let’s start with one of the most practical immediate benefits of breaking a sweat: exercise combats stress. Exercise is a powerful way to combat feelings of stress because it causes immediate increases in levels of key neurotransmitters, including serotonin, noradrenalin, dopamine and endorphins, that are often depleted by anxiety and depression. That’s why going for a run or spending 30 minutes on the elliptical can boost our moods immediately—combatting the negative feelings we often associate with chronic stressors we deal with every day.
 
Exercise improves our ability to shift and focus attention.
 
In my lab, we have also demonstrated

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26581791

that exercise improves our ability to shift and focus attention. Even casual exercisers will recognize this effect. It’s that heightened sense of focus that you feel right after you’ve gotten your blood flowing, whether it be a brisk walk with the dog or a full-on Crossfit workout. These findings suggest that if you have a big presentation or meeting where you need your focus and attention to be at its peak, you should get in a workout ahead of time to maximize those brain functions.

But my favorite neuroscience-based motivation for exercise relates to its effects on the hippocampus—a key brain structure that’s critical for long-term memory. We all have two hippocampi: one on the right side of the brain and the other on the left. The hippocampus is unique because it is one of only two brain areas where new brain cells continue to be generated throughout our lives, a process called adult hippocampal neurogenesis.

Studies in rodents

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16177036

demonstrated that increased levels of physical exercise can result in improved memory by enhancing both the birth rate and the survival of new hippocampal brain cells. Exercise encourages the long-term growth of hippocampal cells by immediately increasing levels of a key growth factor in the hippocampus called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF. Now, when I exercise, I imagine BDNF levels surging in my hippocampi, encouraging all those new hippocampal cells to grow.
All this should serve as a powerful motivator for regular physical activity. But the immediate and long-term benefits of exercise on the brain have even bigger implications.
 
Exercise could help students better absorb everything from history lessons to chemistry experiments–and they’d be happier too.
 
Just consider how the educational system might be altered if we acknowledge exercise’s ability to brighten our mood, decrease stress, and improve our attention span and memory. The growing evidence that exercise improves these key brain functions should encourage schools around the world to increase—not decrease

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/cutting-physical-education/

—students’ physical activity. Not only would this help students to better absorb everything from history lessons to chemistry experiments, they’d be a lot happier too.

The positive brain-based effects of exercise for education are just as relevant for very young children. The growing popularity of outdoor preschools

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2016/01/outdoor_preschools_a_growing_trend_in_the_us.html

are a promising sign that this message is starting to get through.

These brain effects of exercise also have implications for our search for that magic “smart” pill

https://www.rt.com/usa/313769-smart-pill-boost-brain-power/

we hope will make us more productive, successful, and—if you believe the Bradley Cooper film “Limitless”—a lot sexier as well. What if the real magic does not come in the form of a pill, but in the form of an exercise regime?

That’s exactly what the neuroscience research suggests. In fact, my lab is focusing on identifying how we can use exercise to optimize brain function for people of all ages, fitness levels and abilities. If regular exercise becomes routine for the vast majority of children and adults, we could have a population that’s not only healthier and less stressed, but also more productive.
 
Exercise could make students more imaginative at school and adults more creative at work.
 
The good news doesn’t end there. Recent findings have suggested that the brain’s hippocampus is also involved in giving people the ability to imagine new situations.

https://www.rt.com/usa/313769-smart-pill-boost-brain-power/

Since we know that exercise enhances the birth of new hippocampal brain cells and can improve memory function, this discovery suggests that exercise might be able to improve the imaginative functions of the hippocampus as well.

This idea has not yet been tested in people. But the hypothesis raises the exciting possibility that exercise could make students more imaginative at school and adults more creative at work, with broad benefits for society as a whole.

It is also worth noting one of the most profound long-term benefits of exercise on the brain. That is, the longer and more regularly you exercise through your life, the lower your chances are of suffering from cognitive decline and dementia as you age. Part of this effect can be attributed to the build-up in the numbers of healthy young hippocampal cells as you exercise over the years.

Granted, this is a very long-term benefit that may not be seen for decades to come. But if more people were to join the gym this month and actually stick to it, more of us will be able to avoid debilitating cognitive decline, which could save society billions of dollars as we enter old age. This problem is even more relevant for countries with particularly large aging populations,

https://www.rt.com/usa/313769-smart-pill-boost-brain-power/

including the US, Japan and Germany.

In these ways, neuroscience gives us a framework to understand exercise as a tool for better education, increased productivity in the workforce and combating cognitive decline. It’s time for us to stop using the looming prospect of beach season as the motivation for exercise—and instead shift the conversation to a discussion about how staying active can change the way we live.
We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

FONTE: http://www.noticiasaominuto.com.br/lifestyle/176973/os-beneficios-do-exercicio-que-vao-alem-do-fisico

Comentários

Por Caroline Hosken Caldeira
em 15 de Janeiro de 2016 às 14:56.

Além do revelado pela ciência, dito no artigo proposto, o exercício físico regular é um importante fator de cura e sobretudo de prevenção de doenças como por exemplo a hipertensão, nesta que serve como tratamento não farmacológico para controle e em casos de menor gravidade, a cura de tal enfermidade.

Por Lourdes da Aparecida Fernandes
em 3 de Fevereiro de 2016 às 15:34.

Concordo plenamente, Caroline. Muito melhor do que remediar uma enfermidade, é prevenir. O corpo humano foi feito para se movimentar e, a falta de movimentação implica naturalmente em doenças que podem se agravar com o tempo. Então, exercícios físicos são uma ótima pedida para a melhora da qualidade de vida das pessoas.


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