You are here: Home > Diet & Health

Being active for the mind

Troy Grogan
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Getty Images
Getty Images
Being physically active has long been known to be a management strategy for those suffering from depression. Celebrities like Raelene Boyle and Gary McDonald have been championing physical activity as an essential component of diminishing their "black dog" for a few years now.

Scientists have been trying to find out the basis for this insidious illness and its link with the sedentary lifestyle in modern society. Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada suggest that they have found a measurable link to physical activity and mental health.

The researchers studied an area of the brain known as the hippocampus. This is a region is associated with emotion, and the researchers' clinical trials on animals have revealed that exercise leads to a regeneration of nerve connectors in this area of the grey matter. It has also been shown through autopsy that depressed humans have a smaller hippocampus and that stress causes atrophy (tissue loss) to this part of the brain.

This is not to say that all depression can be cured through physical activity as it is a much more complicated issue than that, however, the rise of cases in the clinical setting may well coincide with an increase in the sedentary lifestyles of Australians.

Try some of the assessment tools at LifestyleMedicine.net.au to assess your emotional and psychological health and think about how much physical activity you achieved over the past seven days.

This is yet another reason to keep your body moving; it can keep your mind healthy, too!

Your say: how do you keep your mind healthy? Share with us below...


Also in this section

Recipe Search

Tip: Try "lamb & potato" or "Low GI"
advertisement
Features
Pictures
Video
How your place in the family rules your lifeFirst-born? Piggy in the middle? Or always the baby? Clinical psychologist Linda Blair reveals how birth order in the family can affect every aspect of your life. Multi-vitamins can make you smarterMany people consider vitamin supplements a waste of money, but a new study has found they can actually make you smarter. My wonderful daughter Emily SeebohmEmily Seebohm is one of Australia's most promising Olympic medal prospects, but she'll always be a little girl to her mum Karen. Here, Karen shares her favourite pictures of her superstar daughter. Juggling can grow brain by five percentJuggling might seem like something best left to professional clowns, but a new study has found it can increase the size of your brain. Natural help for hivesMy doctor prescribes antihistamines for my hives. What else can I do?
ww |

inspire me

My wonderful daughter Emily Seebohm

My wonderful daughter Emily SeebohmEmily Seebohm is one of Australia's most promising Olympic medal prospects, but...More >

My wonderful daughter Emily Seebohm

My wonderful daughter Emily SeebohmEmily Seebohm is one of Australia's most promising Olympic medal prospects, but...More >

Photo galleries

Desserts to impressDesserts to impress The best Italian recipesThe best Italian recipes

Weekly newsletter

Recipes in your inboxWe send you the latest recipes from the Weekly plus all the week's best bits to your inbox.
Sign up now >
ww |

topics

Handy hints(740)/ Expert advice(530)/ natural health(436)/ Books(426)/ diet(348)/ Recipes(287)/ Food(267)/ Health(252)/ Gardening(219)/ Craft(164)/ Royals(160)

Also on Ninemsn