Study indicates that physical exercise should be prescribed for brain health

A practice of physical exercise should not be just a medical advice on lifestyle and must be prescribed as a treatment for brain health, defend researchers from canadian universities.

In an article published in the scientific journal Brain Health, Carl Zhou and Nicholas Fabiano of the University of Otava, and Stanley Wong of the University of Toronto, claim that physical exercise cannot be a “suggestion to be discarded at the end of a consultation“but a treatment that “deserves to be prescribed as such”.

In the peer-reviewed publication, researchers from the psychiatry departments of the two universities emphasize that brain health means maintaining cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social functioning throughout life and “physical exercise impacts on almost all these domains”.

Rejecting that it is only a mere lifestyle, the article based on the analysis of several studies states that the practice of physical activity acts on various aspects of brain function, which depends on healthy blood vessels, balanced metabolism, controlled inflammation and neuroplasticity.

Read Also: The stroke happens in the brain. The cause may be in the heart

They point to the example of a randomized clinical trial conducted in older adults, published in 2011, which concluded that aerobic exercise increased the volume of the anterior hippocampus of the brain, improving the memory of the people involved in this study.

“We still tend to treat exercise as a general advice on lifestyle. The evidence we analyzed supports a prescription that specifies the type of activity, frequency, intensity, duration, safety considerations and a follow-up plan, as we would with a drug,” said Carl Zhou.

According to the article, the randomized and meta-analytical conclusions also indicate that interventions with physical activity can reduce depressive symptoms, anxiety, psychological distress and suicide-related outcomes.

A meta-analysis of randomized trials of 2024 found that walking, running, yoga and strength training reduced symptoms of depression, with the highest effects generally observed in activities performed with higher intensity.

The publication pays special attention to schizophrenia and other serious mental disorders, which have high rates of sedentary behavior, cardiometabolic diseases and premature mortality.

“ In schizophrenia, exercise can act on psychiatric symptoms, cognition and physical health simultaneously, in a population with substantial needs not met in all three areas“, highlighted Stanley Wong.

The World Health Organization recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week for adults, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, in addition to muscle strengthening in at least two days.

In the case of depression, which consumes energy and motivation, researchers argue that the first step can be small, such as a five-minute walk, exercise in the chair or performing a daily activity, such as walking the dog.

“The starting point does not have to be impressive. It's got to be as much as possible. Small repeated successes build self-efficacy and habit and that is what creates the conditions for a sustained activity,” said Nicholas Fabiano of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Otava.