Cardio exercise can build your brain just as it does your muscles.

Cardiovascular exercise, which gets the heart pumping, the muscles moving, and the sweat glands working, is one of the best medicines for overall health. And what’s good for the body also benefits the brain.

"There is no surefire medical tool that can delay the onset of dementia and other memory problems," says Dr. Julie Brody Magid, Clinical Director of the Memory Disorders Assessment Clinic at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital. "Certain drugs may help slow mental decline when symptoms arrive. But cardio exercise has consistently proved to help protect the brain from cognitive decline and perhaps even improve cognitive functioning if issues arise."

Popular theories

How does cardio boost your brain? There are many theories. Research has focused on how it can strengthen the heart, promote artery health, improve blood flow to the brain, fight inflammation, and increase key chemicals that encourage new brain cell growth.

For instance, cardio activates a molecule called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF helps repair brain cells and make new brain cells. It’s also been associated with a larger hippocampus, the brain region that stores and retrieves memories.

A study published online Aug. 20, 2021, by Nature Metabolism found that the hormone irisin, produced by muscles during exercise, protected mice against brain inflammation.

The study also suggested that increasing irisin through exercise may help counter the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. (While this was only an animal study, the researchers speculated based on previous research that the effect could work with humans.)

Cardio exercise strengthens the heart and improves blood flow throughout the body, including to your brain, specifically its white matter. This helps protect against vascular dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. Better blood flow also can clear toxins from the brain, further protecting against inflammation and promoting neurogenesis — the development of new brain cells.

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