Swimming, often celebrated for its physical benefits, also serves as a potent brain exercise. Dive into the science behind this aquatic activity's impact on cognitive function, exploring how each stroke in the pool contributes to a healthier, sharper mind.
Swimming is the closest thing humans have to a fountain of youth
Regular swimming has been shown to improve memory, cognitive function, immune response, and mood.
- Swimming may also help repair damage from stress and forge new neural connections in the brain.
- Scientists are still trying to unravel how and why swimming produces these brain-enhancing effects.
Kids get a boost from swimming
Another research group recently looked at the link between physical activity and how children learn new vocabulary words
- They found that children’s accuracy was much higher for words learned following swimming compared with coloring and CrossFit, which resulted in the same level of recall
- These findings imply that swimming for even short periods of time is highly beneficial to young, developing brains.
New and improved brain cells and connections
There is clear evidence that aerobic exercise can contribute to neurogenesis and play a key role in helping to reverse or repair damage to neurons and their connections in both mammals and fish
- Research shows that one of the key ways these changes occur in response to exercise is through increased levels of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor
- The neural plasticity, or ability of the brain to change, that this protein stimulates has been shown to boost cognitive function, including learning and memory
- Aerobic exercise also promotes the release of specific chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, including serotonin, which-when present at increased levels-is known to reduce depression and anxiety, and improve mood
What’s special about swimming?
Swimming has long been recognized for its cardiovascular benefits
- One of the more enticing questions is how, specifically, swimming enhances short- and long-term memory
- In rats, swimming was shown to stimulate brain pathways that suppress inflammation in the hippocampus and inhibit apoptosis, or cell death
- The leap from studies in rats to humans is substantial
- Research in people is producing similar results that suggest a clear cognitive benefit from swimming across all ages
