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The everyday effects of sleep, exercise, heart rate, and mood—both good and bad—could linger in our brains for over two weeks, according to a pioneering study.
It reinforces more modern ideas of health and ‘being healthy’ as not just the absence of disease or the pursuit of a single diet or exercise program, but the efficient functioning of all major systems of the body, all kept in good order through a constant rhythm of simple actions.
Research leader Ana Triana subjected herself to continuous data collection from a variety of wearable health trackers and twice-weekly brain scans to look beyond isolated events at the effects that homeostasis has on cognition. What she and her team found was that healthy lifestyle activities and choices like good sleep or a good workout create “echoes” through the human body, acting as the genesis of improved neurological markers for more than 2 weeks.
“Our behavior and mental states are constantly shaped by our environment and experiences. Yet, we know little about the response of brain functional connectivity to environmental, physiological, and behavioral changes on different timescales, from days to months,” said Triana.
Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Oulu tracked Triana’s physical activity and brain activity for 5 months to get the data necessary to examine how a vigorous workout, or a poor night of sleep, affected her cognition.
“At the beginning, it was exciting and a bit stressful. Then, routine settles in and you forget,” Triana told the Alto University press team.
Data from the devices and twice-weekly brain scans were complemented by qualitative data from mood surveys.
Good hygiene
The researchers found that our brains do not respond to daily life in immediate, isolated bursts. Instead, brain activity evolves in response to sleep patterns, physical activity, mood, and respiration rate over many days.
The researchers identified two distinct response patterns: a short-term wave lasting under seven days and a long-term wave of up to fifteen days. The former reflects rapid adaptations, like how focus is impacted by poor sleep, but it recovers quickly. The long wave suggests more gradual, lasting effects, particularly in areas tied to attention and memory.
What exactly this means for health isn’t totally applicable to much of Western wellness culture: it doesn’t prescribe an immediate action. Instead, it compliments the idea that the goal of approaching wellness and fitness is to aim for homeostasis, the condition of optimal functioning for any organism as marked by a myriad of markers.
Though the study wasn’t focused exclusively on physical activity, the results speak to what cardiovascular exercise guru Dr. Benjamin Levine recently said on a popular health and fitness podcast about how exercise should best be thought of as part of one’s “personal hygiene”.
The researchers hope their innovative approach to this research will inspire future studies that combine brain data with everyday life to help personalize mental health treatment.
“We must bring data from daily life into the lab to see the full picture of how our habits shape the brain, but surveys can be tiring and inaccurate,” says study co-author, neuroscientist, and physician Dr. Nick Hayward. “Combining concurrent physiology with repeated brain scans in one person is crucial. Our approach gives context to neuroscience and delivers very fine detail to our understanding of the brain”. WaL
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PICTURED ABOVE: Ana Triana was herself the subject of the research, monitored as she went about her daily life. PC: Matti Ahlgren, via Alto University. Released.
