Page 71 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

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intellectual performance compared to another group of elderly subjects who continued their
sedentary lifestyle. This effect has been confirmed in other studies that involved running and other
strenuous forms of exercise. But how does physical exercise work against memory loss? There are at
least three possible explanations:

1. Effects on circulation in the brain.
2. Release of endorphins.
3. Impact on nerve cell branching within the brain.

Exercise Improves Your Circulation and Mood

Can exercise increase “brain tone’’ by improving blood circulation and thus enhance memory? We
know that regular exercise over a sustained period of time can reduce the formation of cholesterol-
rich plaques that can block blood vessels, sometimes even dissolving plaques that have already been
formed, and thereby decrease the risk of both heart attacks and strokes. Just as lack of exercise leads
to fat deposition and plaque formation in arteries, which can block blood circulation, exactly the
opposite process may occur when a sound exercise regimen is implemented.

Describing a detailed daily exercise program is beyond the scope of this book, but a few points are
worth noting. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises are good for the heart and brain. Aerobic
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exercise involves medium-level effort in which the heart rate usually does not rise by more than forty
beats per minute. For most people, this translates into a rise from 70 to approximately 110 beats per
minute. More severe exertion raises your heart rate even further and takes you into the anaerobic
range, when the body can no longer keep up with the intensity of the exercise by utilizing glucose
and has to switch to a less efficient, anaerobic, energy-producing system. This is why we cannot
keep up anaerobic activity for long, and sprinting full tilt beyond one or two hundred yards or meters
is virtually impossible. As you grow older, there is a good chance that you will choose to shift from
mixed aerobic-anaerobic (tennis, running) to purely aerobic activity (walking, golf). Long, brisk
walks are always a good form of aerobic exercise.

After a good round of physical exercise, you feel exhausted. At the same time, you feel energized,
even a little high. This uplift is due to the release of brain endorphins, which are chemicals that
attach themselves to opiate receptors, the same receptors that attract morphine and heroin. Endorphin
release heightens attention and vigi-

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