How Aerobic Exercise Timing Can Support Memory

I will say the number one thing that I do for my memory is exercise. And I know you probably are like, oh, I don't want to hear that. I already know exercise is good. But what you may not know is that it's one of the key things for not only preventing and staving off age-related cognitive dysfunction and brain atrophy, But it also plays a big role in short-term and long-term memory recall. And so, you know, it— this is something that for me is really important. If I have a lot of material I'm going to cover on, let's say, a presentation I'm going to give, public speaking event, or a long, you know, podcast I'm going to go on, I need to be able to recall facts in my mind.

And, you know, I need to be able to do it quickly and shuffle through them and have, you know, a lot of different ideas juggling around there. So for me, I've— it's something that's really important. And I've learned through experience and also through reading the scientific literature that— so exercise before learning something. So let's say I'm covering some new material, doing even just a quick 15-minute high-intensity interval session on my Peloton bike, it helps boost short-term memory recall. So if I'm going to do a public speaking event or a podcast, I absolutely 100%, no matter what, will exercise before I do that event. And because it absolutely helps with my memory recall.

When I'm studying things for, you know, long-term memory, things that I want to, you know, sort of have this long-term potentiation and things that are solidified in my brain, I also do exercise after I do all my studying because that has been shown to boost long-term memory recall. And I just, I just can't emphasize it enough. And I think that we all, I mean, I can tell you that I get into this scenario constantly in my, in my brain. There's a fight where it's like, you know, I'm, I'm a mother and that is, and it takes an incredible amount of time. Um, but in addition to that, I have work to do. And so, you know, I've, I've got days that I'm working and times that I'm working, and I feel pressure to maximize that.

And even, believe it or not, in my mind, I'll say, oh, this 15 minutes where I have to get on the Peloton, and then, you know, the getting ready to get on it, and then the cleaning up after, and all that takes time, right? And I think, oh, but I have so much work to do. I really need to work. But the reality is, is that every time I do it, my work, I'm more effective, I'm more efficient, and I feel better. And so it's just a constant reinforcement why no matter what, even if I don't want to do it, even if I think I'm losing work, that it's totally psychological. And the reality is, is that I'm going to work, I am going to be more effective, I'm going to be more efficient, and I'm going to feel better after I get even just 15 minutes of exercise in.

And, you know, part of the reason for that is there's increased blood flow to the brain. And that is very important because blood flow to the brain is, you know, plays a huge role in cognition and also in preventing brain aging. And the other thing is that exercise causes an increase in tryptophan transport into the brain. And this has immediate effects. And I was talking about why I do any type of workout before I'm doing a public speaking event or a podcast. And that is because the tryptophan gets transported into the brain and it has to be transported into the brain in order to form serotonin. And tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin. Tryptophan competes with other branched-chain amino acids that we get in our diet that are much more abundant in foods.

Leucine, isoleucine, these types of amino acids, they use the same transporter as tryptophan, and they are— they outcompete it. And so what that means is that if you have X number of tryptophan molecules and X number of leucine molecules floating around, and they're trying to get into the brain, the leucine molecules are going to get in there first and better. Unless you exercise, exercise causes those branched-chain amino acids to be taken up into muscle tissue where you want them to form muscle, right? So that alleviates that competition. Tryptophan gets into the brain, and tryptophan then in the brain is the precursor for serotonin production. And the benefit of having the serotonin production is manifold.

One is that studies— and studies have shown this in animal models— that serotonin production After exercise is absolutely essential for neurogen— the neurogenesis that occurs with exercise. If you get rid of the enzyme that produces, that converts tryptophan into serotonin, and you cause rodents to exercise, they don't experience that increase in neurogenesis. Fascinating research. But so serotonin, most people think of it as a neurotransmitter, and it is, But it's also a very powerful growth factor. And so it plays a role in neurogenesis, which is the growth of new brain cells. And that is important for staving off brain aging. And, you know, James alluded to this in his question talking about, you know, being 40 and getting older and, you know, getting more forgetful.

Neurogenesis is one of the ways to combat that. And it also is important for— neurogenesis is important for neuroplasticity, which is basically as you get older, being able to have that kind of intelligence that you've sort of learned from behavioral experiences and environmental experiences and things like that. So that's one reason. And 2, serotonin itself as a neurotransmitter is extremely important for memory, for learning, executive function. And also for mood. So bottom line is next time you're feeling unmotivated to exercise because you have so much work to do, or whatever factor, you're feeling lazy, whatever, just remember that exercise, it's not about just— it's not just about burning fat and looking great. I mean, it's about— it is about your brain. It is about getting smarter. It is about maintaining your intelligence and staving off brain aging, pretty much.