Movement can have a major impact on the mind’s ability to focus, remember, and know where you are in time and space. When you are battling cancer, however, you tend to be less physically active because of the toll placed on your mind and body. If your doctor approves, walking can improve attention and memory effected by chemo brain.
- Preliminary results from researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center are finding that cancer patients who walk briskly for 30-45 minutes, five days a week do better on memory tests than non-exercise patients.
- A University of Michigan study found that people who take walks through nature, trees and fields increased their short-term memory by 20% compared to people who walk through busy streets.
- According to Amnon Gimpel, M.D., Psychiatrist and Neurologist, aerobic exercise increases levels of neurotransmitters in the brain (dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine) that improve emotional stability, focus, mental alertness and calm.
Get Walking
Lace-up your walking shoes, call a friend, and hit a nature trail (with doctor approval, of course). Walking briskly through nature helps expand your mind’s awareness, and changes your mind’s neural communications to improve attention and memory. Walking with someone also enhances mental stimulation because your mind has to do many things at once: control movement and direction, listen and observe, formulate speech, process information, tell linear stories, and relive memories.
If you walk alone and want to further stimulate your mind, you can sing the words to an old song, count backwards by twos, or snap your fingers to your walking rhythm.
Enjoy the sites, sounds, and the feeling of a cool breeze against your face by taking a walk each day. Your mind will love you for it.
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