Welcome back to Reading the Research! I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects to share with you. Along the way I discuss the findings with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
Today’s article shows one way movement (exercise) and depression interact. We already know movement is important to brain and body health. It helps burn off energy and improves focus and mood. This study is talking about something different.
The old chestnut of a saying goes, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.” The fundamental thinking about people has been in line with this saying: that once you grow up, you’re pretty much stuck like that. It’s a lie. Old dogs can learn new tricks. Older people can learn new things, and do all the time. It may be harder to find the motivation to learn as you age, but the capability remains. In psychology, we call this ability of the brain to grow and change “neuroplasticity.”
Train Metaphor
Interestingly, it seems that depression reduces the ability to grow and change. You can get stuck, mentally and emotionally. Like a train on a track, but there’s a great pile of rubble across the tracks so you can’t go forward.
Movement, it seems, acts as metaphorical rubble-clearing equipment for the train. Without it you might have been revving your metaphorical engine in the same thought processes, hoping to push through the rubble. As you exercise, you reduce the size of the metaphorical depression rubble pile. But your brain also becomes more able to find new paths through it or around it.
Maybe it’s just me being a nerd, but I think that’s really cool. You can literally become better at adapting to the changes life throws at you, just by going for a walk. Or picking up Ring Fit Adventure and playing it every day. Or going geocaching or playing frisbee. For me, it’s foraging for wild food and flowers. Movement (or exercise) can be as varied as your interests, and all of it fights depression and anxiety. No pills needed.
As a lifelong sufferer of depression, that’s news I love.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter! There are links and comments on studies that were interesting, but didn’t get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
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