NeuroHealth Services Indianapolis
  • Conditions We See
    • Concussion and Post-Concussion Syndrome
    • Vestibular Dysfunction
    • Neurobehavioral Disorders
    • Migraines
    • Dystonia
    • Long Haul COVID
    • Dysautonomia
    • Other Conditions
  • Our Approach
    • Free Consultation
    • Discovery Day
    • NeuroReset Program
    • Services
    • Diagnostics
    • Treatment Tools
    • Our Doctors
    • NeuroHealth FAQs
    • Become A Patient
    • Referring Providers
  • Client Speak
  • Resources
    • About Us
    • NeuroHealth Blog
    • New Patient Paperwork
  • Schedule an Appointment

Want to improve and maintain your brain? Walk often — in nature

12/4/2018

 

While popular brain training gadgets and apps have their place, don’t overlook an age-old strategy to optimize brain health: Walking. 
Humans are unique from the rest of the animal kingdom because of our ability to walk upright on two legs, a development that profoundly evolved our brains compared to our finned and four-legged friends.
Learning to walk freed our hands to do all manner of things and allowed us to conserve energy while moving over long distances, giving us more endurance than any other animal on the planet. The ability to walk also stimulated the development of the human brain into the most evolved in the animal kingdom.
Because walking played such an important role in the development of the human brain, it improves brain health in ways other physical activities don’t. Research shows that walking grows an area of the brain called the hippocampus, the seat of learning and memory. This makes it an excellent way to lower the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Also, the impact of the feet on the ground while walking has been shown to send more blood to the brain, improving oxygenation of the brain.
Maybe this helps explain why so many great thinkers and authors over the centuries were fans of long walks.

The many ways walking benefits the brain

Although walking confers myriad benefits, if you really want to super charge your brain, walk in nature.
A recent study found that walks in nature significantly decrease the obsessive, negative thoughts associated with depression and anxiety.
Researchers found that study subjects who walked through nature for an hour and a half showed less rumination and reduced activity in the subgenual prefontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with depression and mood and mental disorders.
The study subjects who took their walks in urban environments did not show the same results.
Another study showed getting kids with ADHD into a natural green environment significantly reduced symptoms. If you’re stumped for a creative solution to a problem, walking has been shown to increase your creativity by 60 percent compared to sitting. Many people report arriving at their “aha” moment while walking it out.
Walking better connects the various regions of the brain and improves memory and learning abilities.
In fact, one of the more interesting reasons walking is so good for creative problem solving is that its steady rhythmic pace facilitates and enhances our thinking abilities.
If you’ve ever had a functional neurology exam, then you know we ask you to walk as part of the exam. Sometimes we also ask you to walk while reciting every other letter of the alphabet or counting backwards by 7s.
This is because looking at how you walk, especially if you are multitasking, gives us insight into how different parts of your brain are working (or aren’t). Your walking gait, your arm swing, your leg stance, and your posture all give valuable information about what’s going on in your brain.
Any exercise is good, and certainly better than no exercise; but even if you work out regularly, don’t miss out on the brain benefits of walking. And if you don’t exercise, walking is perhaps the most inviting way to significantly improve your brain health.
Ask my office how functional neurology can help your brain better function. 
​You can contact our office at 317-848-6000 or  admin@neurohealthservices.com.

Comments are closed.

    NeuroHealth Services
    ​​​

    ​Get back to feeling like yourself naturally. Natural treatment for neural and chronic pain.

    video Testimonials

    Archives

    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017

    Categories

    All
    Brain Health Awareness
    Brain Injury
    Concussion
    Dizziness
    IBS Treatment
    Men’s Health Month

    RSS Feed

Picture

Our Doctors

​Dr. Ralston
Dr. Gafken

Learn More

FAQ
Blog
​Contact Us
9302 N. Meridian Street, Suite 299
Indianapolis, IN 46260

​​
(317) 848-6000
Map | Directions

    SignUp FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to Newsletter
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Conditions We See
    • Concussion and Post-Concussion Syndrome
    • Vestibular Dysfunction
    • Neurobehavioral Disorders
    • Migraines
    • Dystonia
    • Long Haul COVID
    • Dysautonomia
    • Other Conditions
  • Our Approach
    • Free Consultation
    • Discovery Day
    • NeuroReset Program
    • Services
    • Diagnostics
    • Treatment Tools
    • Our Doctors
    • NeuroHealth FAQs
    • Become A Patient
    • Referring Providers
  • Client Speak
  • Resources
    • About Us
    • NeuroHealth Blog
    • New Patient Paperwork
  • Schedule an Appointment