By Nick
Lavars
September 15, 2022
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A new study has tapped into 12 months of Fitbit data to
reveal some interesting insights around the mental health of more than 100
subjects (Photo credit: Depositphotos)
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The study is the handiwork of
scientists at Dartmouth College, who set out to dig into the nuances of
exercise’s effects on brain function and mental health. They sought to expand
on studies in this area that had examined the effects of exercise over periods
of days or weeks, by instead drawing on data from 113 Fitbit users across a
12-month period.
Across that year, those users were also made to answer
questions about their mental health and perform different memory tests. The
fitness data included daily step tallies, average heart rates and how much time
spent exercising in different heart rate zones. The memory tasks, meanwhile,
were designed to individually test the ability to remember autobiographical
events, locations, and connections between concepts and other memories.
The results demonstrated how complicated the relationship
between exercise and brain health is. While the researchers had expected to
find a general positive trend between higher physical activity and memory and
mental health, it wasn’t quite that simple. Low-intensity exercise brought
improvements to specific memory tasks, while high-intensity exercise brought
improvements specifically to others.
More surprisingly, those undertaking more high-intensity exercise
reported higher stress levels. Those undertaking lower intensity exercise,
meanwhile, reported lower rates of anxiety and depression.
"Mental health and memory are central to nearly
everything we do in our everyday lives," says lead author Jeremy Manning.
"Our study is trying to build a foundation for understanding how different
intensities of physical exercise affect different aspects of mental and
cognitive health."
Though it is early days for the research and the study was
unable to reveal any causal effects, the scientists believe further work could
lead to exciting new tools to manage cognitive health. Just as you might
perform a particular workout in the gym to strengthen a particular muscle
group, you might have a workout program tailored to keep anxiety at bay, or
boost your learning and memory ahead of exam season.
"When it comes to physical activity, memory, and
mental health, there's a really complicated dynamic at play that cannot be
summarized in single sentences like ‘walking improves your memory,' or ‘stress
hurts your memory,'" says Manning. "Instead, specific forms of
physical activity and specific aspects of mental health seem to affect each
aspect of memory differently."
The research was published in the journal Scientific
Reports.
Source: Dartmouth College via MedicalXpress