Short, gentle jog could improve mood and brain function, study suggests

• Exercise benefits both body and brain health, but how vigorous does that exercise need to be to have results?
• A new study suggests that even a small amount of exercise that barely raises the heart rate, such as very slow running, may have cognitive and mood benefits.
• In a small group of healthy people, researchers found that short, slow jogs induced a positive mood and promoted executive function in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, an area that is important for mood and cognition.

Don’t like building up a sweat or spending hours in the gym? Then the findings of a new study could be good news for you.

Researchers have found that even running very slowly for only 10 minutes may improve your mood and benefit your brain health.

In their study, published in Imaging Neuroscience, researchers from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, found that a very slow 10-minute run on a treadmill significantly enhanced mood and cognitive test scores in healthy people, when compared with their scores after a 10-minute rest.

Vernon Williams, MD, a sports neurologist and founding director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Los Angeles and B-ASE Performance, Inc., not involved in the study, welcomed the findings.

Williams told Medical News Today:

“Studies consistently show that regular physical activity can reduce the risk of cognitive decline, improve mood, and alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression. This knowledge should inspire and motivate us to make physical activity a regular part of our lives.”

“Previously,” he added, “it was thought there were thresholds related to frequency, duration, and consistency for long-term and sustained cognitive benefit. This current study suggests, however, that there is at least a short-term benefit from even lower levels of activity, not necessarily traditionally viewed as formal ‘exercise’.”