Endurance sports, be it running marathons or taking on even longer distances, can pose significant challenges not just physically, but mentally as well. This piece delves into how our brains are impacted by the demanding exertions of these individual sports.
Read more: The Brain’s Response to Extreme EnduranceThe UltraMarathon: A Test of Limits
The TransEurope-Footrace presents an astonishing endurance challenge: 67 athletes, hailing from 12 countries and spanning ages from 26 to 74, journeyed across Europe, covering 70.1 km daily for 64 straight days. In simpler terms, it’s akin to running 1.7 marathons every day! Naturally, one might wonder about the toll such an event takes on the brain.
During a typical aging process, the brain’s volume shrinks by less than 0.2% annually. Shockingly, UltraMarathon participants displayed around a 6% reduction in just two months. Wolfgang Freund and his team determined this through MRI scans. Fortunately, this damage wasn’t permanent; the brain regained its volume within 8 months. Excessive water retention and inadequate protein intake were cited as potential reasons for this significant shrinkage.
Marathon Running: A Popular Choice with Impacts
While UltraMarathons are extreme and cater to a niche group, marathons are more accessible and have a vast following. Juliane Herm and her German research team explored the marathon’s effects on the athlete’s brain. They scanned 110 seasoned athletes’ brains two days before and after a marathon. The findings were startling: about one in seven showed signs of damage to the brain’s white matter, which encompasses myelin. Myelin boosts the strength, speed, and accuracy of nerve signals. However, the study had its limitations, including not accounting for individual training levels, and focusing on middle-aged athletes, potentially offering different results for younger participants.
The Wider Perspective: Endurance Training for All
Marathons might not be everyone’s cup of tea. People have diverse preferences for physical activities, ranging from short bursts to extended endurance sessions. Kirk Ericson from the University of Pittsburgh conducted a study on 120 elderly participants between 55 and 80. The subjects were divided into two groups: one engaged in endurance training thrice a week for 40 minutes, and the other performed light stretching exercises. A year later, the stretching group’s hippocampus (essential for memory storage and spatial orientation) had shrunk by 1.4%. Remarkably, the endurance group saw a 2% growth! This suggests that endurance exercise can not only counteract age-related brain shrinkage but even reverse it.
Concluding Thoughts:
It’s a well-established fact: sports benefit both the body and the brain. Ericson’s research reaffirms this. However, as the level of exertion increases, so does the strain on our brain. Thankfully, the brain is incredibly resilient, adapting and healing over time.
Source
Renshaw I, Davids K, Araújo D, Lucas A, Roberts WM, Newcombe DJ and Franks B (2019) Evaluating Weaknesses of “Perceptual-Cognitive Training” and “Brain Training” Methods in Sport: An Ecological Dynamics Critique. Front. Psychol. 9:2468. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02468