https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=099hgtRoUZw
Number one is novelty. Second is repetition. Third is association. And the fourth one is emotional resonance.
So that is the key structure for long-term memory, this structure called the hippocampus.
The word hippocampus means seahorse.
*The hippocampus plays a crucial role within the neural systems for long-term memory. ***The hippocampus and what it does really defines our own personal histories.
So without the hippocampus, you can’t remember things, but actually you are not able to imagine events or situations that you have never experienced before.
Long-term memories are stored in the cortex, but those memories are stored in the hippocampus sometimes for a very, very long time.
You need to pay attention and remember certain things for your survival. That is the protective function of our brain. Some things that get stamped in, they are memories, but they are fear memories. If something very scary happens, you member that.
Every single time you move your body, you are releasing a whole bunch of neurochemicals. And some of them we are talking about, the good mood comes from dopamine, and serotonin, and noradrenaline, but the thing that gets released also, particularly with aerobic exercise, is a growth factor called brain derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. This is so important as what it does is it goes directly to your hippocampus and it helps brand new brain cells grow in your hippocampus. We all have the capacity to grow a bigger, fatter, fluffier hippocampus.
As long as your heart rate is getting up for these long-term effects on your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, you also get better at shifting and focusing your attention, for that you need cardiovascular exercise. Also you are pumping more blood, that is the definition of a higher heart rate, stroke volume of the heart goes up over time, you are getting fitter, so blood flow to the brain is increasing.
Any cardio workout that is done has these positive effects. Whatever way you get your heart rate up, including a power walk, a power walk can get your heart rate up, that is beneficial.
There are two stimulant for BDNF:
By running, these were studies done in rats on running wheels, they showed that the running rats had more of this myokine, releasing the myokine past the blood-brain barrier. And myokine stimulated the release of BDNF in the brain.
There is a ketone, beta-hydroxybutyrate, that we are know for a very long time that gets released by the liver during exercise. We also know that particular ketone passes the blood-brain barrier.
About neurogenesis:
Work Rusty Gage at the Salk Institute: they actually injected a sort of due type marker into the brains of terminally ill humans who offered to have their brains removed and dissected after death. And in some cases, these very old terminally ill humans, they did see evidence for new neurons.
Some more specific effects of exercise on memory:
There are three major effects that have been reproduced. I’ve seen it in my lab, and many labs have reproduced it. What you get is that mood boosts, very consistent. You get improved prefrontal function. And significant improvements in reaction time, so your speed at responding often aa motor kind of, but cognitive motor response is improved.