Supercharge your brain-here's how! With Exercise!

Want to improve your brain's memory & thought processing?
Japanese researchers have shown that whilst Brain Glycogen levels reduce with exercise, they can be boosted immediately on resting & feeding!


To levels that exceed that of resting brains and continued exercise maintains these levels!


The Journal of Physiology published an article last year from researchers at the university of Tsukuba which had two sets of rats with one group whom were involved in a treadmill running programme, the other whom had stationary treadmills.The tested the levels of glycogen in the brains of the rats during & after exercise.


Journal of Physiology2011 Jul 1;589(Pt 13):3383-93. Epub 2011 Apr 26


Brain Glycogen is seen as being a critical energy source for brain activity. It has been hypothesised that during prolonged exhaustive exercise, a state of hypoglycaemia exists where there is inadequate glucose from the blood, in addition to reductions in muscular glycogen levels.


The levels were noticeably less in certain portions of the brain governing thinking,memory & movement such as the frontal cortex & hippocampus.




However, when researchers studied the rats after a single bout of exercise as well as regular moderate-intesity running (4 weeks).


After the single bout of exercise group, the rats were able to rest & feed: brain levels of glycogen were measured to have actually were elevated beyond the pre-exercise levels as well as when exhausted! This was particularly so in the frontal cortex & hippocampus by as much a 60%! These unusually high levels were restored to normal levels within 24 hours.

However, if rats continued with an exercise regime over 4 weeks this form of glycogen 'superadaptation' became the new norm compared to sedentary animals. Again areas critical to learning & memory in the pre frontal cortex & hippocampus were especially marked-this is a striking finding that encourages author Dr Hideaki Soya to suggest that "it is tempting to suggest that increased storage & utility of brain glycogen in the cortex and hippocampus might be involved in the development of a better, sharper brain."


SO another great reason for reaching for the bananas, yoghurts & milk after any form of run or training that renders you exhausted, or tired for a prolonged period! It could be ideal for a supercompensation strategy for your brain!

Journal of Physiology 590.3 (2012) pp 607–616

Food for thought for your brain? A Mediterranean Diet may be healthy for your brain as well as your body!

When patients want to make a change in their body composition our hearts at SPACE sing! Ross today helped an athlete who wants to shift from 15% body fat to between 8-12%, and this change in training  by increasing fatburner type of exercise after conditioning sessions was met positively, as was the discussion surrounding lifestyle & especially diet.


The walk home past a local chip shop revealed 4 teenagers in school blazers munching from chip boxes which caused a more familiar form of 'heart sink' as I passed. 


A change in diet has been acknowledged to have a host of health benefits, as would a dose of exercise (I cannot comment on the teens' physical workouts, just a snapshot of their food intake). A recent study has backed up the physical exercise aspect, but also linked activity to an increased likelihood of participants having an enriched diet of fresh vegetables, fruit, lean proteins, whole grains & healthy monosaturated fats from olive oil & nuts with less emphasis on saturated fats & red meat.


This is very much the Mediterranean style of diet, frequently linked to lower incidence & risk of heart disease, diabetes & cancer. However a study in the Archives of Neurology Vol 69, No 2, February 2012 ( Arch Neurol. 2012;69(2):251-256) also has suggested an association with a decreased chance of damage to the small vessels of the brain.


Just under a thousand participants with a mean age of 72 had their diets studied via a food questionnaire before undergoing a MRI Scan which measured white matter hyperintensity volumes. This gives an indication of small vessel damage within the brain, and is often associated with diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), strokes & dementia. Whilst some damage is part of the ageing process, those participants whose diet was more related to the typical Mediterranean version demonstrated lower incidence of white matter hyperintensity volume.

from Womens' Heart Foundation womensheart.org

More men appeared to stick to this form of diet interestingly, as well as that finding alluded to earlier that the physically active were also more likely to enjoy these type of foods.


The researchers in this Northern Manhattan study concluded that the overall diet rather than specifics within it, was of key importance, and that the ratio of monosaturated fat to saturated fat may be a key determinant to the levels of white matter hyperintensity volume.


Perhaps there's more to the olive oil salad dressing on your greens & fresh fruit platter than merely a faddy substitute for your red meat & missing out on your family bar of chocolate?

Scottish Sporting Triumph - SPACE Success!

The first phrase may be one we don’t see too often, but the second is one we are all accustomed to seeing, hearing, and even passing onto friends. 

In Luxembourg last month, both of these came true in the form of the Scottish Mens Scottish Volleyball Team triumphing in the Novotel Cup. 

This blog essentially has SPACE Physio Kenny Watt reflecting on a short but successful campaign. You may also read about it on the Scottish Volleyball Association website here:

Scottish Volleyball Association report or in the Edinburgh Evening News here: Evening News article.

"The Cup is a 4 team invitational competition established for women in 1987 and men in 2005. The Scottish men first competed in 2005 (3^rd), then as GB in 2008 and 2009 finishing 4^th and 3^rd respectively. In 2010 and 2011 competing as an “independent” Scotland again we finished 4^th and 3^rd with 2011 being my first attendance with the team. In there were some good performances but what shows is a slightly disappointing history of results. Being a small nation (with a football obsession and a history of chronic underfunding of more minority sports) volleyball is not played by a large number of people unlike on mainland Europe where it is has some of the highest participation numbers of any team sport. Taking this into consideration we still produce a number of very good players, a few of who now play professionally abroad, as well some individuals in the GB programme pushing towards London this summer. Our international calendar on top of the Novotel Cup consists of a qualifying competition for the European Small Nations championships then hopefully, all going well, the Championships themselves later in the year. I have been involved with the team as physio for two years, and in that time, as always when working with teams, there are highs and lows but unquestionably winning the Novotel Cup last week has to be the one of the National team’s highest highs.

 Armed with a huge hotel room, the physio clinic was setup, with the equipment beautifully laid out along the windowsill, the plinth raised in the middle of the room and the laptop gracing the players and I with what many of you will know from being in SPACE when my ipod is plugged in, fabulous music. At times the clinic consisted of one player on the plinth being treated, two lying on the bed with Dry needles protruding from them and another using the foam roller in preparation for his treatment next. Here I have to say that without the learning experience I have had at SPACE over the last 6 months under the tutelage of Stephen, these different combinations of treatments dragged from an ever expanding “toolbox” of skills, would not have been possible, so any success has to be largely attributed to them.

The competition this year consisted of Luxembourg, England, Denmark and ourselves in a round robin competition. We began with a resounding 3-0 win over Denmark, then narrowly lost 3-2 to the hosts before beating the auld enemy 3-2 in our final game. This left us needing Denmark to beat Luxembourg in the penultimate game; any other result would give the hosts the trophy.  Sure enough the Danes brought home the bacon and the stands were deathly silent expect for our section filled with the boys, the Scotland Women’s team and the coaches going absolutely nuts. 

The awards ceremony was a little of a blur except for the moment when you all stand arm in arm singing the national anthem towards a spot lit Saltire, trophy in hand. And the trophy was to go in hand as in the post celebration team huddle I was awarded the trophy and told that if it hadn’t been for my work half the team would not have been able to stay fit throughout the three days. To say it was one of my proudest physio moments would be an understatement. 

So the first ever Novotel Cup won by a Scottish team now sits proudly in my flat, but will soon find its way to SPACE where it probably belongs: a symbol of Scottish and SPACE success."

Dan Parks retires from Scotland International Team - another good man lost

Tuesday 7th February. A meeting in the week that Scotland take on Wales in the RBS 6 Nations. So far, so normal. Sure, we've just been beaten by England by a score, but most players will have been shocked by the emotional tearful announcement from Daniel Arthur Parks that he was to retire with immediate effect. 

With best wishes to the team, he was gone to the stands whilst the team trained, photos made their way to newspaper websites shortly afterwards, and the twittersphere & blogs were filled with the usual mixture of the positive comments, the negative abuse, and the downright naive or ignorant. Standard fare really for someone deemed the most 'marmite' (shouldn't that be 'vegemite' tweeted one wag) player of modern times: love him or hate him, he was frequetly discussed in pubs & water coolers.
Scottish Rugby Press Release & Andy Nicol comment on retirement on BBC

 He was first selected in 2004 by another maligned Australian, Matt Williams, initially as a substitute for three games before forcing his way into the team to finish up the 2004 championship against Ireland where he typically nailed a drop goal-the first of his 17 that constitute a Scottish record. He remains the Celtic League's highest points scorer of all time, and states that he will continue playing for his club.

Dan Parks & Chris Cusiter
celebrate in Dublin, 2010

However players & management reflected on the memorable moments of his career which, whilst containing some 'rocky times' had some fabulous highlights, especially at the 2007 World Cup in France when he was voted Scotland's Most Valuable Player by the players themselves, and the year 2010, either on the Argentina tour or collecting 3 man of the match performances in four 6 Nations games that year, ultimately followed up by a terrific victory over South Africa.


A top bloke off the field with infectious laughter, enthusiasm & no little skill on the table tennis table, he will be sorely missed as a sports' nut with particular interest in rugby league (his Australian imitation of NRL commentary during the recent World Cup was spectacular) & NFL (we discussed the recent season of College American Football as well as the well-hyped Super Bowl just last week). 


Look at how good a sport he was here in this classic piece of April Fool's tomfoollery with the BBC: Scotland punished for laser cheat.


With the recent passing from Scotland colours of Nathan Hines & Chris Paterson (Chris Paterson retires) Scotland has lost much experience on the pitch, and much character off the field. 


I personally will miss all three.

Six Nations to The Superbowl

This weekend has been the opening weekend for the rugby 6 Nations Championship, but Superbowl XLVI  is also taking place in Indianapolis. 

Throw in the start of the Stobart Super League rugby league as well in Europe, then it all makes for cracking viewing for spectators of oval ball sports.

Here's the home page for the Greatest Show on Earth (that's the rugby by the way, friends from the Americas...) RBS 6 Nations Championship & today we witnessed a cracking game from Dublin, which you can see here if you are in the UK: Ireland v Wales 5th Feb 2012.

For all your Superbowl facts & figures go with this: Superbowl 2012 & the feeling across USA as I saw it last week read Superbowl fever in USA.

Super League's opening weekend also coincided with these other great events, and rugby league broke new ground with its first fixture to be played out on artificial turf: Widnes v Wakefield 1st match on artificial turf.

Finally it was great to see Scotland's most capped international in the dressers after the defeat to England yesterday. He arrived for a special presentation from the team to him to mark his retirement from the international game.

For a personal reflection on his career see here: Reflection on Chris Paterson's career.