Walk to keep your brain active and healthy in old age, says study | Health - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Walk to keep your brain active and healthy in old age, says study

New York | ByIndo Asian News Service
Apr 26, 2017 12:10 PM IST

Turns out, walking helps not just your heart but also your brain. A study found that the foot’s impact during walking sends pressure waves through the arteries that significantly modify and increase the supply of blood to the brain.

In addition to benefitting your heart and muscles, a regular walk also contributes to keeping your brain healthy, new research suggests.

Keep walking! It’s good not only for your heart, but for your brain too.(Shutterstock)
Keep walking! It’s good not only for your heart, but for your brain too.(Shutterstock)

The foot’s impact during walking sends pressure waves through the arteries that significantly modify and can increase the supply of blood to the brain, according to the study presented at the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2017 in Chicago.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In the study, the researchers from New Mexico Highlands University used non-invasive ultrasound to measure hemispheric cerebral blood flow or CBF to both sides of the brain of 12 healthy young adults during standing upright, rest and steady walking (one metre/second).

The researchers found that though there is lighter foot impact associated with walking compared with running, walking still produces large pressure waves in the body that significantly increase blood flow to the brain.

While the effects of walking on CBF were less dramatic than those caused by running, they were greater than the effects seen during cycling, which involves no foot impact at all.

“New data now strongly suggest that brain blood flow is very dynamic and depends directly on cyclic aortic pressures that interact with retrograde pressure pulses from foot impacts,” the researchers wrote.

“There is a continuum of hemodynamic effects on human brain blood flow within pedalling, walking and running. Speculatively, these activities may optimise brain perfusion, function, and overall sense of wellbeing during exercise,” the researchers said.

Walk as much as you can... (Shutterstock)
Walk as much as you can... (Shutterstock)

In a separate study published last year in the journal Open Science, a team of researchers from Australia and South Africa showed that the evolution of human intelligence was not simply related to the size of the brain -- but rather linked more closely to the supply of blood to the brain.

To allow our brain to be intelligent, it must be constantly fed oxygen and nutrients from the blood, the researchers said.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more

Oscars 2024: Nominees to Red Carpet Glam! Get Exclusive Coverage on HT. Click Here

Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On