Effects of Exercise: The Brain-Changing Benefits

Explore the relationship between exercise and physical health, as well as the psychological benefits it offers. Discover how exercise can protect the brain from neurodegenerative diseases and improve memory and thinking skills. This case study highlights the importance of exercise in reducing chronic diseases and promoting overall well-being.

Running head: EFFECTS OF EXERCISE
Effects of exercise
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
The relationship between physical exercise and physical health has increasingly come
under the spotlight of the research in recent years. While the simple exercise can boost the
immediate mood change, the growing evidence shows the more complex relationship of exercise
with the psychological wellbeing. The chosen case is a TED talk about the brain changing the
effect of the exercise presented by Wendy Suzuki who is a professor of neuroscience (Suzuki
2018). The topic is chosen because the growing evidence exhibited that a considerate number of
individual developed the neurodegenerative disease and have no history of exercise. Therefore,
this study will give a concise idea of the benefits of exercise in reducing the prevalence of
chronic disease. The professor showed that exercise not only helps in changing but also protects
the brain from the neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression
(Suzuki 2018). In the case study, Suzuki (2018), stated that the powerful effect of the exercises
is long term since it retains the concentration for a longer period of time. Therefore, this paper
will illustrate literature review, methods, discussion, and conclusion in the following paragraphs.
Literature review:
Exercise is one of the most transforming things that alter the complex structure of the
brain. Cardiovascular benefits of routine exercise are well established and irrefutable. Sharma et
al. (2015), suggested that through the promotion of a favourable cardiac risk profile, exercise is
highly associated with a significant reduction in cardiac issues in the older population. The
researchers showed that exercise promotes longevity. A systematic review by Thomson et al.
(2016), suggested that exercise is a cornerstone id cardiac rehabilitation since it attributed the
disease progression. The benefit of the exercise is also exhibited in case of the modulation of the

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signalling pathways involving cardiac remodelling (Fiuza-Luces et al. 2018). The exercise also
proved to improve memory, thinking skills as well as reduce the possibility of developing a
chronic disease such as stroke, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Chen et al. (2016),
suggested that exercise improve the cholesterol level as well as lower the blood pressure of the
individual. While studies highlighted the physical benefit of exercise, psychological benefits of
the exercise are also spotlight of research. A study by Scully et al. (1998), suggested that
exercise improves the stamina of individuals, boost self-confidence and is a powerful
antidepressant for many individuals with severe mental health issues. In the long term longevity
of the life, individuals who are engaged in the regular exercise events have longer lifespans
compared to the sedentary counterparts. A study by Robertson and Takacs (2017) suggested that
the beneficial effect of the exercise is not only highlighted in the field of medicine but also
highlighted in the workplace. Brown et al. (2011) suggested that physical exercise is an effective
strategy for the workplace for reduction of tendency absent and improve the mental health. the
gap of the study is that due to lack of knowledge, many individuals including clinicians are
unaware of the effectiveness of exercise.
In the chosen case study, the professor, windy Suzuki, emphasized the brain changing
the effect of exercise which leads to better well being an individual. The professor worked with
the two parts of the rain where she found out that two crucial parts of the brain are responsible
for improving the concentration of the individual as well as increases the level of
neurotransmitter (Suzuki 2018). The professor was working with prefrontal cortex which is
responsible for decision making, personality, and reaction as well as hippocampus which is
responsible for retaining memory. The similar kinds of research were done by Driver and
Taylor (2000) where the authors stated that exercise has a sleep-enhancing effect which is

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associated with the changes in brain activity. However, due to sedentary life style in the current
era, even good sleepers ignore the sleep-promoting effect of physical activity. Dolezal et al.
(2017), argued that only moderate exercise can improve the total sleep time and delayed REM
sleep onset in individuals. Therefore, the life changing effect of exercise is yet to be established
in the population of Australia.
Methodology:
This case study reviews the secondary source of data in order to obtain a universal
understanding of the brain changing the effect of the exercise. In the case study, the different
literature reviews were obtained by searching the electronic databases such as Medline, CINAHL
and Cochrane liberty and the focus was given to the previous 10years of literature evidence and
it would be compared with the chosen case in order to obtain the similarities and dissimilarities
of the evidence. The academic source which was chosen for the paper is TED talk of the brain
changing effect of exercise by windy Suzuki who is a professor of neuroscience. She worked
with two crucial part of the brain and found out by researching and combing her personal
experience that it improves the public health by reducing the cardiac disease, inducing the brain
cells which are most susceptible to the neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, this case study is
considered as one of the important pieces of evidence which is intriguing and worth studying.
This particular study helps in the understanding the topic “psychological well being and physical
activity” since it is strongly correlated with the well being of individuals and contribution of
exercise in well being of the individual. Therefore, this particular study would help readers to be
gain a concise idea about the benefits of the physical activity and implement it in the daily
practice In order to lead healthy lives.

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Discussion:
The key findings of the study are that exercise help in mood changing and protect the
brain from depression, Alzheimer’s disease. In the chosen case study, Windy Suzuki while
working with the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, she found out that physical activity has
immediate effect on the brain such as it increases neurotransmitters which include dopamine,
serotonin, and endorphin. Moreover, previously she noticed that she was living a sedentary
lifestyle while working on the hippocampus (Suzuki 2018). After joining to the regular exercise
program she found out that physical activity improves the attention and focus of individual
which lasts more than 2 hours. Furthermore, she stated that regular physical exercise changes the
complex structure of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex by generating new brain cells and
communicating neurons. The research was a potential piece of evidence and extremely
important in the current context (Suzuki 2018). The reason behind it is that the case assisted the
researchers as well as professionals to gain the immense knowledge of the health-promoting
benefits of exercise and implement it in the care plan for the patient with chronic diseases
(Gill ,Williams and Reifsteck, 2017).
The similar kind of findings was observed in other literature reviews where researchers
were working on the life-changing character of the exercise. Sharma et al. (2015), conducted a
primary research on athletes for obtaining the gaining the understanding of the contribution of
physical activity in improving cardiac output. The researchers found out that physical activity
reduces the prevalence of myocardium infarction, improves cardiac output and LV dysfunctions.
Therefore, in the modern era of sports, Athletic training containing different kinds of exercise is
crucial for promoting the large and sustainable increase in cardiac output for a prolonged period
of time. Another study showed the exercise improves the blood circulation in different parts of
the body and improve the life expectancy of the individual (Kenney Wilmore and Costill 2015).

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Exercise improves the mental health of the individuals by boosting self-esteem and confidence
and therefore the implementation of it in the workplace reduce the absenteeism by (Scully et al.
1998). Therefore, exercise such as walking, dancing, suing staircase should be part of the routine
of every individual. A study showed that similar kind of result the case study where authors
stated that individuals often neglect the life-changing effect of exercise because of personal
believes and initially it is hard to involve in the regular exercise program (Dolezal et al. 2017).
Therefore, these studies along with the case study provide a new direction for the clinicians for
reducing the global burden of disease.
The limitation of the study is that, although the case study was effective in highlighting
the psychological well being of the individual through implementing exercise, the details
research would be required for evaluating individual response in order to understanding
effectiveness of exercise in reducing chronic disease.
Conclusion:
Thus, it can be concluded that the brain changing the effect of exercise by windy Suzuki
is a cornerstone in the literature since it highlighted the effect of exercise on the brain. The
professor showed that exercise not only helps in changing but also protects the brain from the
neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Exercise also proved to
improve memory, thinking skills which in turn shape the personality of the individuals. Exercise
improves the mental health of the individuals by boosting self-esteem and confidence and
therefore the implementation of it in the workplace reduce the absenteeism. Therefore, this case
study is considered as one of the important pieces of evidence which is intriguing and worth
studying since it gives a newer direction to the research and effective intervention for care plan

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of the patient. It also helps views to be aware of effectiveness of the exercise in order to lea
healthy life.

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References:
Brown, H.E., Gilson, N.D., Burton, N.W. and Brown, W.J., 2011. Does physical activity impact
on presenteeism and other indicators of workplace well-being?. Sports Medicine, 41(3), pp.249-
262.
Chen, L.J., Fox, K.R., Ku, P.W. and Chang, Y.W., 2016. Effects of aquatic exercise on sleep in
older adults with mild sleep impairment: a randomized controlled trial. International journal of
behavioral medicine, 23(4), pp.501-506.
Dolezal, B.A., Neufeld, E.V., Boland, D.M., Martin, J.L. and Cooper, C.B., 2017.
Interrelationship between sleep and exercise: a systematic review. Advances in preventive
medicine, 2017.
Driver, H.S. and Taylor, S.R., 2000. Exercise and sleep. Sleep medicine reviews, 4(4), pp.387-
402.
Fiuza-Luces, C., Santos-Lozano, A., Joyner, M., Carrera-Bastos, P., Picazo, O., Zugaza, J.L.,
Izquierdo, M., Ruilope, L.M. and Lucia, A., 2018. Exercise benefits in cardiovascular disease:
beyond attenuation of traditional risk factors. Nature Reviews Cardiology, p.1.
Gill, D., Williams, L. and Reifsteck, E., 2017. Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise.
Human Kinetics.
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Human kinetics.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.

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Robertson, E.M. and Takacs, A., 2017. Exercising control over memory consolidation. Trends
in cognitive sciences, 21(5), pp.310-312.
Scully, D., Kremer, J., Meade, M.M., Graham, R. and Dudgeon, K., 1998. Physical exercise and
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Sharma, S., Merghani, A. and Mont, L., 2015. Exercise and the heart: the good, the bad, and the
ugly. European heart journal, 36(23), pp.1445-1453.
Suzuki, W. 2018. The brain-changing benefits of exercise. [video] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHY0FxzoKZE [Accessed 3 Jan. 2019].
Thomson, R.L., Buckley, J.D. and Brinkworth, G.D., 2016. Perceived exercise barriers are
reduced and benefits are improved with lifestyle modification in overweight and obese women
with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomised controlled trial. BMC women's health, 16(1),
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