86Thousand400: Stress, Anxiety, Depression & Exercise

Stress, Anxiety and Depression are all related to certain areas of the brain and again there is a strong link between exercise, neurotransmitters and stress levels.

As fundamental as neurotransmitters are, there's another class of master molecules that has dramatically changed our understanding of connections in the brain, specifically how they develop and grow.

A family of loosely termed factors, the most prominent of which is brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Whereas neurotransmitters carry out signalling, neurotrophins such as BDNF build and maintain cell circuitry - the infrastructure itself.

When the brain is called on to take in information, the demand naturally causes activity between neurons. The more activity the stronger the attraction becomes, and the easier it is for the signal to fire and make the connection. The initial activity marshals existing stores of glutamate in the axon to be sent across the synapse and reconfigure receptors on the receiving side to accept the signal. The voltage on the receiving side of the synapse becomes stronger in its resting state, thereby attracting the glutamate signal like a magnet. If the firing continues, genes inside the neuron's cell are turned on to produce more building material for the synapses, and it is the bolstering of the infrastructure that allows the new information to stick as memory.

Eric Kandel - 2000 Nobel Prize Winner found - repeated activation, or practice, causes the synapses themselves to swell and make stronger connections.

A neuron is like a tree that instead of leaves has synapses along its dendritic branches, eventually new branches sprout, providing more synapses to further synaptic plasticity, which is where BDNF takes centre stage.

Think of BDNF as miracle gro for the brain.

BDNF improves the function of neurons, encourages their growth, and strengthens and protects them against the natural process of cell death.

BDNF is a crucial biological link between thought, emotions and movement.

As our species have evolved, our physical skills have developed into abstract abilities to predict, sequence, estimate, plan, rehearse, observe ourselves, judge, correct mistakes, shift tactics, and then remember everything in order to survive. The brain circuits that our ancient ancestors used to start a fire are the same ones we use to learn French today.

Brain scans show that when we learn a new word, the prefrontal cortex lights up with activity (as does the hippocampus and other pertinent areas). Once the circuit has been established by the firing of glutamate, and the word is learned the prefrontal cortex goes dark. It has overseen the initial stages of the project, and now it can leave the responsibility to a team of capable employees while it moves on to new challenges

Which is why a morning run is so important!