What if I told you there was something that you can do right now that would have an immediate, positive benefit for your brain including your mood and your focus? And what if I told you that same thing could actually last a long time and protect your brain from different conditions like depression, Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Would you do it? Yes!
Što ako kažem da odmah možete učiniti nešto što može odmah djelovati pozitivno na vaš mozak, na vaše raspoloženje i koncentraciju? I što ako kažem da taj učinak može dugo trajati te vaš mozak štititi od raznih bolesti poput depresije, Alzheimerove bolesti ili demencije? Biste li to učinili? Da!
I am talking about the powerful effects of physical activity. Simply moving your body, has immediate, long-lasting and protective benefits for your brain. And that can last for the rest of your life. So what I want to do today is tell you a story about how I used my deep understanding of neuroscience, as a professor of neuroscience, to essentially do an experiment on myself in which I discovered the science underlying why exercise is the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today. Now, as a neuroscientist, I know that our brains, that is the thing in our head right now, that is the most complex structure known to humankind. But it's one thing to talk about the brain, and it's another to see it.
Govorim o snažnom učinku fizičke aktivnosti. Jednostavnim pomicanjem tijela trenutno i dugotrajno štitite svoj mozak. I to može trajati do kraja vašeg života. Stoga vam danas želim ispričati priču o tome kako sam svoje dobro poznavanje neuroznanosti, kao profesor neuroznanosti, iskoristila da na sebi provedem eksperiment u kojem sam otkrila znanstvene razloge iz kojih upravo tjelovježbom možete još danas na svoj mozak najviše utjecati. Kao neuroznanstvenica, znam da je naš mozak, ova stvar u našim glavama, najsloženija struktura poznata ljudskom rodu. No, jedno je govoriti o mozgu, a drugo vidjeti ga.
So here is a real preserved human brain. And it's going to illustrate two key areas that we are going to talk about today. The first is the prefrontal cortex, right behind your forehead, critical for things like decision-making, focus, attention and your personality. The second key area is located in the temporal lobe, shown right here. You have two temporal lobes in your brain, the right and the left, and deep in the temporal lobe is a key structure critical for your ability to form and retain new long-term memories for facts and events. And that structure is called the hippocampus. So I've always been fascinated with the hippocampus. How could it be that an event that lasts just a moment, say, your first kiss, or the moment your first child was born, can form a memory that has changed your brain, that lasts an entire lifetime? That's what I want to understand. I wanted to start and record the activity of individual brain cells in the hippocampus as subjects were forming new memories. And essentially try and decode how those brief bursts of electrical activity, which is how neurons communicate with each other, how those brief bursts either allowed us to form a new memory, or did not.
Eto stoga dobro očuvanog ljudskog mozga. Pokazat će nam dva ključna područja o kojima ćemo danas govoriti. Prvo je prefrontalni korteks, odmah iza čela, ključan je za donošenje odluka, koncentraciju, pažnju i osobnost. Drugo područje nalazi se u sljepoočnom režnju, vidi se ovdje. U mozgu imamo dva sljepoočna režnja, desni i lijevi, a duboko u sljepoočnom režnju ključna je struktura za našu sposobnost stvaranja i očuvanja novih dugoročnih sjećanja na činjenice i događaje. Ta se struktura zove hipokampus. Oduvijek me opčinjavao hipokampus. Kako je moguće da događaj koji traje samo trenutak, recimo, vaš prvi poljubac, ili rođenje vašeg prvog djeteta, stvori uspomenu koja je promijenila vaš mozak i koja traje cijeli život? Upravo to želim shvatiti. Željela sam početi snimati aktivnost pojedinih moždanih stanica u hipokampusu dok su ispitanici stvarali nova sjećanja. I pokušati dešifrirati na koji način ti kratki naleti električne aktivnosti, kojima neuroni međusobno komuniciraju, omogućuju ili ne omogućuju stvaranje novog sjećanja.
But a few years ago, I did something very unusual in science. As a full professor of neural science, I decided to completely switch my research program. Because I encountered something that was so amazing, with the potential to change so many lives that I had to study it. I discovered and I experienced the brain-changing effects of exercise. And I did it in a completely inadvertent way. I was actually at the height of all the memory work that I was doing -- data was pouring in, I was becoming known in my field for all of this memory work. And it should have been going great. It was, scientifically. But when I stuck my head out of my lab door, I noticed something. I had no social life. I spent too much time listening to those brain cells in a dark room, by myself. (Laughter) I didn't move my body at all. I had gained 25 pounds. And actually, it took me many years to realize it, I was actually miserable. And I shouldn't be miserable. And I went on a river-rafting trip -- by myself, because I had no social life. And I came back --
No, prije nekoliko godina učinila sam nešto neobično u znanosti. Kao redovni profesor neuroznanosti, odlučila sam potpuno promijeniti svoj istraživački program. Naišla sam na nešto toliko zapanjujuće, što je moglo promijeniti tolike živote, da sam to morala proučiti. Otkrila sam i iskusila učinak tjelovježbe na promjene u mozgu. I to potpuno slučajno. Bila sam zapravo na vrhuncu svog rada iz području pamćenja -- s obiljem podataka, prepoznatljiva u svojoj struci za sav taj rad na pamćenju. I sve je trebalo teći glatko. Znanstveno gledajući, i jest. No, kad sam glavu proturila izvan laboratorija, nešto sam primijetila. NIsam imala društveni život. Previše sam vremena provela osluškujući moždane stanice potpuno sama, u mračnoj sobi. (Smijeh) Nisam se uopće kretala. Udebljala sam se 11 kg. I zapravo sam, shvatila sam nakon mnogo godina, bila nesretna. A nisam trebala biti nesretna. Otišla sam na rafting -- sama, jer nisam imala društveni život. I vratila sam se --
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
thinking, "Oh, my God, I was the weakest person on that trip." And I came back with a mission. I said, "I'm never going to feel like the weakest person on a river-rafting trip again." And that's what made me go to the gym. And I focused my type-A personality on going to all the exercise classes at the gym. I tried everything. I went to kickbox, dance, yoga, step class, and at first it was really hard. But what I noticed is that after every sweat-inducing workout that I tried, I had this great mood boost and this great energy boost. And that's what kept me going back to the gym. Well, I started feeling stronger. I started feeling better, I even lost that 25 pounds.
misleći, "Bože, bila sam najslabija osoba na izletu." I vratila sam se sa zadatkom, rekavši "Nikad se više neću osjećati najslabijom osobom na raftingu." I to me natjeralo da odem u teretanu. Usredotočila sam svoju osobnost A-tipa na sve satove vježbi u teretani. Sve sam isprobala. Išla sam na kickboxing, ples, jogu, step aerobic, i isprva je bilo doista naporno. No, primijetila sam da, nakon svakog isprobanog napornog treninga, slijedi odlično raspoloženje i ogroman nalet energije. I to me tjeralo natrag u teretanu. Počela sam se osjećati jačom. Počela sam se osjećati bolje, čak sam i smršavila 11 kilograma.
And now, fast-forward a year and a half into this regular exercise program and I noticed something that really made me sit up and take notice. I was sitting at my desk, writing a research grant, and a thought went through my mind that had never gone through my mind before. And that thought was, "Gee, grant-writing is going well today." And all the scientists --
Sada, godinu i pol nakon početka redovitog vježbanja, primijetila sam nešto što me doista natjeralo da stanem i shvatim. Sjedila sam za stolom i pisala prijavu za istraživačku stipendiju, kad mi je na pamet palo nešto što nikad dotad nije. Bilo je to, "Ha, danas mi stvarno dobro ide pisanje prijave za stipendiju." I svi znanstvenici --
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
yeah, all the scientists always laugh when I say that, because grant-writing never goes well. It is so hard; you're always pulling your hair out, trying to come up with that million-dollar-winning idea. But I realized that the grant-writing was going well, because I was able to focus and maintain my attention for longer than I had before. And my long-term memory -- what I was studying in my own lab -- seemed to be better in me. And that's when I put it together.
da, svi se oni uvijek smiju kad to spomenem, jer to nikome nikad ne ide dobro. Tako je teško; uvijek si čupate kosu, pokušavajući osmisliti tu pobjedonosnu ideju. No, shvatila sam da pisanje prijave ide dobro, jer sam uspjela pažnju usredotočiti i zadržati duže nego ikad prije. I moje je dugoročno pamćenje, pri učenju u mom laboratoriju, bivalo sve bolje. I tada sam sve povezala.
Maybe all that exercise that I had included and added to my life was changing my brain. Maybe I did an experiment on myself without even knowing it. So as a curious neuroscientist, I went to the literature to see what I could find about what we knew about the effects of exercise on the brain. And what I found was an exciting and a growing literature that was essentially showing everything that I noticed in myself. Better mood, better energy, better memory, better attention. And the more I learned, the more I realized how powerful exercise was. Which eventually led me to the big decision to completely shift my research focus. And so now, after several years of really focusing on this question, I've come to the following conclusion: that exercise is the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today for the following three reasons.
Možda je sva ona tjelovježba koju sam uključila u svoj život, mijenjala moj mozak. Možda sam na sebi provela eksperiment, a da to nisam ni znala. Kao radoznala neuroznanstvenica, potražila sam u literaturi naša saznanja o učincima tjelovježbe na mozak. Pronašla sam mnoštvo uzbudljive i sve bogatije literature, koja je u biti iznosila sve ono što sam na sebi primijetila. Bolje raspoloženje, više energije, bolje pamćenje, bolja koncentracija. I što sam više proučavala, bila sam sve svjesnija moći koju ima tjelovježba. To me naposljetku dovelo do važne odluke da potpuno promijenim fokus svojeg istraživanja. I sada, nakon nekoliko godina rada na tom pitanju, stigla sam do sljedećeg zaključka: Tjelovježbom najviše možete odmah utjecati na promjene u vašem mozgu, iz tri naredna razloga.
Number one: it has immediate effects on your brain. A single workout that you do will immediately increase levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. That is going to increase your mood right after that workout, exactly what I was feeling. My lab showed that a single workout can improve your ability to shift and focus attention, and that focus improvement will last for at least two hours. And finally, studies have shown that a single workout will improve your reaction times which basically means that you are going to be faster at catching that cup of Starbucks that falls off the counter, which is very, very important.
Prvo: trenutno djeluje na vaš mozak. Samo jednom tjelovježbom odmah ćete povećati razine neuroprijenosnika poput dopamina, serotonina i noradrenalina. To će vam popraviti raspoloženje odmah nakon aktivnosti, upravo ono što sam ja osjećala. U laboratoriju se pokazalo da samo jednim vježbanjem možete poboljšati sposobnost koncentracije i pozornosti te da to stanje traje najmanje dva sata. I konačno, studije su pokazale da samo jednom tjelovježbom možete poboljšati reflekse, što zapravo znači da ćete brže uhvatiti onu šalicu u Starbucksu koja pada sa šanka, što je vrlo važno.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
But these immediate effects are transient, they help you right after. What you have to do is do what I did, that is change your exercise regime, increase your cardiorespiratory function, to get the long-lasting effects. And these effects are long-lasting because exercise actually changes the brain's anatomy, physiology and function. Let's start with my favorite brain area, the hippocampus. The hippocampus -- or exercise actually produces brand new brain cells, new brain cells in the hippocampus, that actually increase its volume, as well as improve your long-term memory, OK? And that including in you and me.
No, ti su trenutni učinci kratkotrajni, pomažu vam odmah nakon vježbe. Morate učiniti ono što sam ja učinila, promijeniti cjelokupni režim vježbe, povećati kardiorespiratornu funkciju, da biste postigli trajnije učinke. A ti su učinci dugotrajni, jer vježba zapravo mijenja anatomiju, fiziologiju i funkciju mozga. Krenimo od mog omiljenog područja mozga, hipokampusa. Hipokampus -- ili, zapravo, vježba, proizvodi nove moždane stanice u hipokampusu, koje povećavaju njegov volumen i poboljšavaju vaše dugoročno pamćenje, ok? I to kod svih nas.
Number two: the most common finding in neuroscience studies, looking at effects of long-term exercise, is improved attention function dependent on your prefrontal cortex. You not only get better focus and attention, but the volume of the hippocampus increases as well. And finally, you not only get immediate effects of mood with exercise but those last for a long time. So you get long-lasting increases in those good mood neurotransmitters.
Drugo: najčešća saznanja u neuroznanstvenim studijama u pogledu učinaka dugoročne tjelovježbe, odnose se na bolju moć koncentracije, koja ovisi o prefrontalnom korteksu. Ne samo što imate bolju koncentraciju i pozornost, već se povećava i obujam hipokampusa. I konačno, ne samo da tjelovježba odmah vidljivo utječe na raspoloženje, već taj utjecaj dugo i traje. Dakle, dugotrajno se povećavaju neuroprijenosnici dobrog raspoloženja.
But really, the most transformative thing that exercise will do is its protective effects on your brain. Here you can think about the brain like a muscle. The more you're working out, the bigger and stronger your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex gets. Why is that important? Because the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus are the two areas that are most susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases and normal cognitive decline in aging. So with increased exercise over your lifetime, you're not going to cure dementia or Alzheimer's disease, but what you're going to do is you're going to create the strongest, biggest hippocampus and prefrontal cortex so it takes longer for these diseases to actually have an effect. You can think of exercise, therefore, as a supercharged 401K for your brain, OK? And it's even better, because it's free.
No, najveća promjena uzrokovana vježbom upravo su zaštitni učinci koje ima na vaš mozak. Možete mozak zamisliti kao mišić. Što više vježbate, to hipokampus i prefrontalni korteks postaju većima i jačima. Zašto je to važno? Zato što su prefrontalni korteks i hipokampus područja koja su najosjetljivija na neurodegenerativne bolesti i na uobičajeno propadanje kognitivnih sposobnosti starenjem. Dakle, povećanom fizičkom aktivnošću za života, nećete izliječiti demenciju ili Alzheimerovu bolest, ali ćete uspjeti stvoriti najjači, najveći hipokampus i prefrontalni korteks te će tim bolestima trebati više vremena da postignu učinak. Možete vježbu zamisliti kao obilato mirovinsko osiguranje za vaš mozak, ok? A i bolje od toga, jer je besplatna.
So this is the point in the talk where everybody says, "That sounds so interesting, Wendy, but I really will only want to know one thing. And that is, just tell me the minimum amount of exercise I need to get all these changes."
I sad dolazimo do onog trena kad svi kažu, "Sve ovo zvuči doista zanimljivo, Wendy, no ja samo želim znati jednu stvar, a to je, koliko najmanje moram vježbati da ostvarim sve te promjene."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
And so I'm going to tell you the answer to that question. First, good news: you don't have to become a triathlete to get these effects. The rule of thumb is you want to get three to four times a week exercise minimum 30 minutes an exercise session, and you want to get aerobic exercise in. That is, get your heart rate up. And the good news is, you don't have to go to the gym to get a very expensive gym membership. Add an extra walk around the block in your power walk. You see stairs -- take stairs. And power-vacuuming can be as good as the aerobics class that you were going to take at the gym.
I stoga ću vam odgovoriti na to pitanje. Prvo, dobra vijest: ne morate biti triatlonac da to postignete. Zlatno je pravilo vježbati tri do četiri puta tjedno, po najmanje 30 minuta i po mogućnosti uključivši aerobne vježbe. Odnosno, ubrzavši broj otkucaja srca. Dobra je vijest i to da ne morate ići u teretanu i plaćati skupe članarine. Svojoj žustroj šetnji dodajte još jedan krug po susjedstvu. Ako ugledate stepenice, uspnite se njima. I žustro usisavanje može biti jednako dobro kao i sat aerobika na koji ste namjeravali otići.
So I've gone from memory pioneer to exercise explorer. From going into the innermost workings of the brain, to trying to understand how exercise can improve our brain function, and my goal in my lab right now is to go beyond that rule of thumb that I just gave you -- three to four times a week, 30 minutes. I want to understand the optimum exercise prescription for you, at your age, at your fitness level, for your genetic background, to maximize the effects of exercise today and also to improve your brain and protect your brain the best for the rest of your life.
Stoga sam od pionira u pogledu pamćenja prešla na istraživača vježbanja. Od proučavanja najskrivenijih funkcija u mozgu, do pokušaja shvaćanja kako vježba može poboljšati naše moždane funkcije. I sada je moj cilj u laboratoriju otići dalje od tog zlatnog pravila -- tri do četiri puta tjedno po 30 minuta. Želim vidjeti koji je optimalan recept za vježbu za vas, u vašoj dobi, s vašom kondicijom, vašeg genetskog podrijetla, kako bi se postigli maksimalni učinci današnje vježbe te poboljšao i najbolje zaštitio vaš mozak do kraja života.
But it's one thing to talk about exercise, and it's another to do it. So I'm going to invoke my power as a certified exercise instructor, to ask you all to stand up.
No, jedno je govoriti o vježbanju, a sasvim drugo prakticirati ga. Stoga ću iskoristiti svoju moć certificiranog instruktora vježbi i zamoliti vas da ustanete.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
We're going to do just one minute of exercise. It's call-and-response, just do what I do, say what I say, and make sure you don't punch your neighbor, OK? Music!
Vježbat ćemo samo jednu minutu. Princip poziva i odgovora, samo ponavljajte što radim i govorim i pazite da ne udarite svog susjeda, ok? Glazba!
(Upbeat music)
(Živa ritmička glazba)
Five, six, seven, eight, it's right, left, right, left. And I say, I am strong now. Let's hear you.
Pet, šest, sedam, osam, desna, lijeva, desna, lijeva. Reci "Sad sam jak/jaka." Da vas čujemo.
Audience: I am strong now.
Publika: "Sad sam jak/jaka".
Wendy Suzuki: Ladies, I am Wonder Woman-strong. Let's hear you!
Wendy Suzuki: "Dame, jaka sam kao Wonder Woman!" Da čujemo!
Audience: I am Wonder Woman-strong.
Publika: "Jaka sam kao Wonder Woman."
WS: New move -- uppercut, right and left. I am inspired now. You say it!
WS: "Novi pokret -- aperkat, desna, lijeva. Nadahnut/a sam. Sad vi!"
Audience: I am inspired now.
Publika: "Nadahnut/a sam".
WS: Last move -- pull it down, right and left, right and left. I say, I am on fire now! You say it.
WS: "Posljednji pokret -- spusti, desna, lijeva, desna, lijeva. Sad gorim! Sad vi".
Audience: I am on fire now.
Publika: "Sad gorim!"
WS: And done! OK, good job!
WS: "I gotovo! Ok, bravo!"
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Thank you. I want to leave you with one last thought. And that is, bringing exercise in your life will not only give you a happier, more protective life today, but it will protect your brain from incurable diseases. And in this way it will change the trajectory of your life for the better.
Hvala. Prije kraja, još nešto za razmišljanje. Uvođenjem vježbe u svoj život, ne samo da ćete odmah živjeti sretnije i zdravije, već ćete i mozak zaštititi od neizlječivih bolesti. I na taj ćete način promijeniti putanju svog života na bolje.
Thank you very much.
Puno hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)