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Physical exercise can help clarify your thinking quickly
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
It has been proven that even short periods of physical exercise quickly enhance the ability to think.
Everyone knows that physical exercise has a positive effect on health, protecting against many serious diseases. However, physical activity is useful not only for the body, but also for the quality of thought processes.
Why are many office workers advised to take five-minute exercise breaks? Many are sure that exercise will allow you to unwind a little, speed up your blood circulation and relax. But, as it turns out, that's not all. Exercise has a direct effect on brain activity.
Scientists from the University of Western Ontario decided to study short-term cognitive enlightenment that occurs immediately after exercise. Several volunteers pedaled on a treadmill for ten minutes at different speeds. Then they were asked to concentrate and look at the monitor, moving their eyes in the appropriate directions. The movements of the visual organs were assessed by a special device, which subsequently "gave" such results. It was found that after physical activity, the volunteers made fewer mistakes during testing, and their reaction was faster than those who simply rested or read the press instead of exercise.
Scientists concluded that aerobic exercise improves mental activity. The molecular stimulant is probably a protein in the form of a neurotrophic brain factor - its production is activated after aerobic exercise.
After a short physical activity, a person becomes more focused, attentive and diligent. An excited brain quickly selects a sequence of actions and controls their implementation.
But, as scientists point out, such an effect from physical education does not last very long. However, its duration can be influenced by doing physical exercises regularly.
Exercises not only improve the excitability of the nervous system, but also activate and strengthen the development of nerve cells, supporting the formation of two-way connections. Structural and functional components gradually improve, which, in turn, has a positive effect on cognitive ability.
Physical exercise minimizes the risk of age-related neurodegenerative pathologies, and a strong anti-stress and antidepressant effect softens the signs of most nervous system disorders.
Experts draw attention to the fact that all of the above positive effects occur only after aerobic exercise. Strength training leads to a slightly different effect - or rather, even the opposite: during exhausting training, cortisol is released, which blocks the synthesis of neurotrophic factor and negatively affects the quality of thought processes.
The information is presented on the pages of the publication Neuropsychologia.
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