Previous research already demonstrated that running is beneficial for both physical and mental health, assisting in aspects such as mood and cognitive abilities. However, there was a lack of scientific clarity regarding what intensity of running would be necessary for such mental changes to be noticed.
A new study, published in the scientific journal Imaging Neuroscience, sought to answer this question. The findings were particularly positive for sedentary individuals, indicating that even a short session of very slow running can improve mood and executive brain functions.
To conduct the research, scientists from the University of Tsukuba, located in Japan, monitored twenty-four healthy adults. These participants performed a ten-minute session of slow running on a treadmill, maintaining a pace between three and six kilometers per hour. During the exercise, researchers monitored parameters such as heart rate, which fluctuated between 104 and 107 beats per minute. This data was subsequently compared with information collected during a ten-minute rest session conducted by the same individuals.
The initial observations emerged from participant reports, who mentioned feeling happier, more attentive, and having a greater sense of satisfaction after the run. This subjective perception was corroborated by the analysis of objective data. Researchers found that this gentle running was already sufficient to provoke noticeable improvements in the participants' mood.
Additionally, after the physical activity, participants showed superior performance in Stroop tests, which are used to assess attention, self-control, and other components of executive brain function. While performing these and other cognitive tests, they used headphones capable of recording changes in cerebral hemoglobin, signaling the regions activated during the tasks. After the run, the equipment detected an increase in activity in the left prefrontal cortex areas, a brain region crucial for mood and cognition.
The study still requires additional investigations to understand the underlying mechanisms of these transformations and their long-term effects. One theory proposed suggests that these benefits may be related to head movement during running, which, according to previous research, mechanically stimulates brain function.
