The Effects of Regular Exercise in Human Brain

Effects of Exercise on the Human Brain
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Introduction
Physical exercise can be defined as the daily activity involving the movement of one's body, particularly the muscles, to achieve general fitness. Physical exercise has great benefits for the human body. Physical exercise results in better cardiovascular health and muscle strength. It is also an essential tool in weight management for many people. While a lot of the focus usually goes to the impact it has on the physical aspect of the human body, it also has significant impacts on the brain and the cognitive aspects of it. There are distinct elements that need to be dissected in detail to highlight the effects of physical exercise on the human brain, in essence, shedding light on its positive impacts on cognitive function, emotional well-being, and overall brain health. This paper provides a framework for the same and also provides three suggestions for future research about the effect of physical exercise on the brain.
Effects of Exercise on the Human Brain
Exercise significantly impacts cognitive and brain functions, especially in older adults. Aging usually comes along with a number of challenges for old adults. Not only does it result in cardiovascular issues for these people, but also cognitive decline and issues such as dementia. To tackle dementia, regular physical exercise and cognitive leisure activities are usually suggested (Bherer et al., 2013). Aging usually comes with a significant loss of white matter integrity in the brain of an aging individual, something that results in significant declines in the mental processing speed. Working memory takes a serious hit in such individuals, as the cerebral cortex suffers significant changes.
Physical exercise, however, helps to cut the rate of cognitive decline significantly. According to Pallard (2015), the risk of cognitive decline and subsequent challenges, such as dementia, is inversely proportional to the rate and frequency of physical exercise. This is because regular physical exercise usually results in cell regeneration in vital parts of the brain that are in charge of cognition. Increased physical activity usually results in increased blood flow and an increased supply of oxygen to the brain, subsequently increasing the neurobiological processes therein. Neurotransmitters are also synthesized in the process, which has an overall impact on increased memory development.
Regular physical exercise has great preventative effects on the brain. In the process of aging, there is usually a lot that happens, from the cellular to the operational levels of the brain. There is usually a slowdown in cellular processes due to a modification of the synaptic structures and a general drop-off in cellular metabolism. Dopamine processing also becomes labored. With physical exercise, however...