Heena Sharma Blog

Here's another reason to add physical exercise to your daily routine. According to a recent study, exercising may help fight depression by stimulating muscle-generated mood boosters. According to research, the underlying mechanisms that make us feel good when we exercise, persist into old age and highlight the importance of staying active. "A previous study demonstrated these mechanisms in healthy young adults, however, it was unknown whether the muscle deterioration which accompanies aging would preclude older adults from achieving similar exercise-induced benefits. This could have important implications concerning the use of exercise as a treatment or a preventative strategy for depression in seniors," said David Allison, lead author on the study which was published in the American Journal of Physiology. Muscle loss is a common problem in the elderly, which may restrict that pathway, and therefore increases the risk of mental depression, says Allison. Fo...

Regular aerobic exercise can help in improving thinking skills not only in older people but in young people as well, a recent study suggests. According to the research, regular aerobic exercise such as walking, cycling or climbing stairs may improve thinking skills not only in older people but in young people as well. The study also found that the positive effect of exercise on thinking skills may increase as people age. The specific set of thinking skills that improved with exercise is called executive function. Executive function is a person's ability to regulate their own behavior, pay attention, organise and achieve goals. "As people age, there can be a decline in thinking skills, however our study shows that getting regular exercise may help slow or even prevent such decline. We found that all participants who exercised not only showed improvements in executive function but also increased the thickness in an area of the outer layer of their brain," said...

Whether you’re a morning person or love burning the midnight oil, we’re all controlled by so-called “body clocks.” These body clocks (which regulate your circadian rhythms) are inside almost every cell in the body and control when we feel awake and tired during a 24-hour period. But as it turns out, our latest study found that our body clocks have a much bigger impact on us than we previously realised. In fact, our body clocks actually effect how well a person performs on both mental and physical tasks . Our circadian rhythms are controlled by the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus, which detects light. When cells in your eyes register that it’s dark outside, they send these signals to the suprachiasmatic nucleus. It then releases the hormone melatonin, which makes you feel tired. Your chronotype is another factor that determines how your biological clocks affect your daily behaviours. For example early chronotypes (“morning larks”) rise early and are most active in the mornin...