Have you ever been told that exercise enhances brain function and actually makes you smarter? Well, it is true…and Japanese researchers have just discovered the reason why. For many years, scientists thought that the brain subsisted only on glucose (blood sugar) which was absorbed from the bloodstream.

Ten years ago, it was discovered that the brain is fueled by glycogen that is stored in small amounts by astrocytes, the cells that support the neurons in the brain. But while scientists knew that the brain had these energy stores, they had been unable to study when the brain’s stored energy was being used in actual live conditions because the brain metabolizes the glycogen very quickly and it is gone before it can be measured. 

Using their glycogen detection method on rats in a lab, the Japanese researchers discovered that prolonged exercise significantly lowered the brain’s stores of energy. These losses were especially noticeable in certain areas of the brain, like the frontal cortex and the hippocampus, that are involved in thinking and memory, as well as in the mechanics of moving. 

Soon they discovered even more fascinating results: after the single session on the treadmill, the animals were allowed to rest and feed, and then their brain glycogen levels were studied. The food had gone to their heads, and brain glycogen levels had soared past the levels that were measured before exercise, increasing by as much as a 60 percent in the frontal cortex and hippocampus and slightly less in other parts of the brain. The astrocytes had “overcompensated,” resulting in brain carbo-loading. These levels dropped back to normal in 24 hours, but if the rats exercised every day, their baseline brain glycogen levels were significantly higher than those of the sedentary rats. 

These findings are essential in understanding exercise-enhanced cognitive function. As a result, Dr. Soya says, “it is tempting to suggest that increased storage and utility of brain glycogen in the cortex and hippocampus might be involved in the development” of a better, sharper brain.

After you go to your daily spinning or yoga class, make sure to drink or eat a carb-rich snack, such as a banana or glass of chocolate milk, in order to enhance your brain function even more!