The power of thought: Scientists have named a new way of storing information – RT in Russian

A group of scientists from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands opened up a new way of storing information and its preservation in the long-term memory.

study published in the journal Current Biology, concludes that a better retention of information contributes to the performance of physical exercise four hours after learning new material.

« Our results suggest that deferred for a certain time of exercise can contribute to improving the long-term memory, and demonstrate the potential of physical activity in the educational and therapeutic processes “, – stated in the article

72 subjects participated in the experiment that. for 40 minutes trying to remember the location of 90 pictures on a computer screen.

After that, the participants were divided randomly into three groups. The first group immediately after studying the pictures served a 35-minute interval workout on an exercise bike. The second group of subjects did the same exercise, but after four hours of memorization. The third group does not perform the exercises at all.

After 48 hours, the scientists tested how well the subjects remembered the location of the pictures, and had a MRI of the brain. The experimental results showed that the best coped with the task of those who performed exercise four hours after viewing pictures. In addition, these same people, researchers found activity in the hippocampus -. The brain regions responsible for memory consolidation, that is, information transfer from short-term memory into long-term

The researchers say they do not know yet the exact mechanisms delayed effects of exercise on the process of memorizing. However, as noted in the article, previously conducted studies have shown that exercise is driven norepinephrine and dopamine, that affect memory consolidation.