What's So Special About Swimming?
2 Min Read
Swimming is believed to help control inflammation in the hippocampus (the brain), prevent cell death, and decrease the cognitive consequences of aging, according to researchers.
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According to researchers, swimming prevents cell death
Swimming regularly has been proven to improve memory, cognitive function, immunological response, and mood, according to researchers from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's research on the effect of swimming on the brain, which was published on "The Conversation" website.
Most of research on how swimming affects the brain has been conducted on rats, according to The Conversation magazine, since rats are an excellent lab model due to their genetic and anatomical similarities to humans.
How exactly does swimming enhance short- and long-term memory?
Researchers trained mice to swim for 60 minutes five days a week to observe how long the positive benefits would last. Next, they evaluated the rats' memories by having them swim through a radial arm water maze with six arms, one of which included a concealed platform.
Rats were given six chances to swim freely and discover the secret platform. Researchers found gains in both short- and long-term memory after just seven days of swimming instruction, based on a reduction in the number of mistakes rats made each day.
Swimming, according to researchers, helps reduce inflammation in the hippocampus and also prevents apoptosis, or cell death. Swimming, in comparison to other aerobic exercises like running and cycling, is more effective.
The researchers of the university suggested that swimming may also aid in stress recovery and the formation of new neural connections in the brain.
