Weight Lifting Boosts Memory Power in Youngsters: Study

Lift some weights to boost your memory power, advises research.

Some serious weight training and endurance workout helps expunge toxins from the body and also boost lean muscle mass making a person fitter and healthier. A study by researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology found 20 minutes of weight training improves one's episodic or long-term memory by 10 percent. The experts tested certain number of healthy and young participants who practised muscle building exercises like lifting weights for two days and then were assigned a memory task on computers. The subjects were instructed to look at 90 images of positive, negative and neutral content and advised not to memorize them, reports the Red Orbit.

The participants then engaged in leg extension exercises during which, the experimenters recorded their blood pressure level, heart rate and also collected saliva samples to measure levels of biomarkers of stress. All volunteers retuned to the lab after a gap of two days and had a look at a series of 180 images, half of which were new.

It was observed, the participants who exercised with weights were able to recollect 60 percent of original pictures shown to them at the beginning of the trial compared to 50 percent by control group subjects.

Earlier researches have largely emphasized on the benefits of mild aerobic exercises in benefiting brain health. But none of the studies have ascertained the role of muscle and strength training in increasing memory power. In the current trial, it was noted participants were able recollect positive and negative images better than neutral images indicating that people are likely to remember emotional experiences after physical exertion or stress.

"Even without doing expensive fMRI scans, our results give us an idea of what areas of the brain might be supporting these exercise-induced memory benefits. The findings are encouraging because they are consistent with rodent literature that pinpoints exactly the parts of the brain that play a role in stress-induced memory benefits caused by exercise."," said Audrey Duarte, researcher and an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in a news release.

"We can now try to determine its applicability to other types of memories and the optimal type and amount of resistance exercise in various populations. This includes older adults and individuals with memory impairment," adds Minoru Shinohara, co-researcher and an associate professor in the School of Applied Physiology.

More information is available online in the journal Acta Psychologia.