Get more GABA! The Power of Exercise to Calm

New York Time's Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds shares exciting new research about the effect of exercise on the brain.  A question that scientists have been trying to answer for a while now is:  How is it possible for exercise to accomplish two seemingly opposite results?  How can exercise inspire the growth of new, excitable brain cells while also instilling in us a sense of calm?

This new research out of Princeton University provides the answer.  What happens is that the new brain cells created during exercise are able to be shut down more easily when they aren't needed.  Scientists found that the new, excitable cells were accompanied by a number of other new neurons - neurons that release the neurotransmitter GABA.  GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and has the power to shush and quiet activity in the brain - which means it can keep other neurons from firing easily. What that means for you is - if you're under stress and you've got more GABA, you're better able to keep calm.  How do you get more GABA?  Exercise!

Read the whole story here.  For more on the scientific study, check out the Journal of Neuroscience.

A research team based at Princeton University found that physical activity reorganizes the brain so that its response to stress is reduced and anxiety is less likely to interfere with normal brain function. Running produced a large increase in the number of new neurons in the hippocampus — a brain region shown to regulate anxiety — of a mouse that ran for six weeks (above). The brown cells are new neurons, which are more numerous in active mice than sedentary mice, and the blue cells are mature neurons. (Photo courtesy of the Gould laboratory)