A single session of physical exercise can spawn a boost of neural activity in brain networks that underlie learning and memory, according to a new study led by the University of Iowa.
The researchers measured neural activity in the brains of patients with epilepsy before and after they completed a bout of physical exercise. The results showed that a single exercise session produced in the participants a burst of high-frequency brain waves, called ripples, emanating from the hippocampus to areas of the brain involved in learning and recall.
Neuroscientists have documented ripples relevant to memory in mice and rats, but they had not confirmed the link in humans, mainly because electrodes need to be implanted in the brain to obtain recordings. Instead, researchers had theorized the ripples’ role in…