Newsletter #109: How exercise may improve memory 🧠
Hello Friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the humanOS newsletter.
We decided to forgo publishing our podcast this week. It didn’t feel right given what is happening in the United States, and frankly, we were too sad and upset to focus on work much. We’ll keep it simple: To all people supporting fairness and equality, we stand with and support you.
For those who are looking to focus on something else for a few moments, here is a roundup of the various studies and media that we reviewed this week. 👇
This Week’s Research Highlights
🦠 Outdoor transmission of COVID-19 (thankfully) appears to be relatively uncommon.
Researchers extracted SARS-CoV-2 case reports from the local Municipal Health Commissions of 320 prefectural cities in China and were able to identify 318 outbreaks with three or more cases, comprising a total of 1245 confirmed cases. Among the outbreaks, 79.9% were confined to the home environment, and 34% were connected to transportation. The scientists were only able to identify one single outbreak in an outdoor environment, which involved just two cases. This appears to confirm that shared indoor space is a primary mode of transmission for COVID-19. Effective ventilation, as well as particle filtration, and limiting crowding within buildings, may help control infection in indoor environments.
🧠 Exercise may improve memory by boosting blood flow to the brain.
Researchers recruited 30 participants, each of them 60 years of age or older, with mild cognitive impairment. They were randomly assigned to spend 12 months either performing aerobic exercise training or just stretching (controls). The exercise group showed a 47% improvement in their memory scores at the end of the intervention, compared to only minimal change in the control group. Brain imaging of the exercise group revealed increased blood flow into the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus, both regions of the brain that play a role in memory function. Furthermore, the extent of memory improvement across individuals was associated with increased cerebral blood flow to said regions.
📈 Children who experience racial discrimination show elevations in biomarkers related to cardiometabolic disease.
Researchers analyzed data on self-reported racial discrimination and cardiometabolic risk markers from 124 elementary school-aged children in Australia. They found that two or more reported experiences of racial discrimination was associated with increased BMI z-score, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and IL-6. This evidence aligns with previous studies suggesting that racism and racial discrimination may be an important social determinant of cardiometabolic risk, and may partially explain the inequitable burden of cardiovascular disease experienced by ethnic minorities.
💪🏽 Intense physical exercise boosts cellular clean-up of muscle tissue.
Six healthy male volunteers underwent a single, very intense, roughly ten-minute cycling workout. Before and after the exercise bout, biopsies were collected from the legs of these participants. Quantitative proteomic analysis revealed a significant increase in the activity of ubiquitin, a small protein that is involved with cell signaling. It is sometimes referred to as the “death marker protein,” because it tags proteins that have been worn out, facilitating their removal and replacement with fresh muscle cells. This upregulation in targeting and clearance of old proteins may be one of the many reasons why physical activity is healthy.
Videos We Loved This Week
- Martin Luther King Jr.: A riot is the language of the unheard. Via 60 Minutes.
- David R. Williams: How racism makes us sick. Via TEDMED.
- Daryl Davis: Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies. Via TEDxNaperville. (also check out this article for more info about this remarkable man)
Products We Are Enjoying
PROMiXX Vortex Mixer.
This bottle is perfect for quickly mixing protein powders, creatine, other supplemental powders, or for making cold tea and coffee beverages. It’s very light, so you can even carry it with you and mix on the go.
