Exercise Is Brain Medicine l Ep 44

exercise, neuroplasticity, neurotransmitters, neuroscience

Plot twist: exercise changes your brain perhaps even more than it does your body!

To close out the season, I’m breaking down the actual neuroscience behind why movement helps mood, motivation, focus, recovery, brain fog, stress, and mental health—and how I experienced it rebuilding my life after being my accident - surgeries & come & all - and training my way back into myself.

We get into neuroplasticity, BDNF (basically brain fertilizer), neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, nervous system regulation, inflammation, sleep, and why exercise can make your brain feel online again when it’s been stuck in survival mode.

This episode isn’t fitness hype. It’s brain chemistry, biology, scientific evidence, and lived experience.

I'm standing ten toes down: work out for the brain, the body will follow.

Win most, lose some

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Transcript

Neurotransmitters And A Pop Culture Proof

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The neurotransmitters that exercise is affecting are the ones that are connected to cognition and mood. I'm talking about serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and norepinephrine. If I pronounce that wrong, I have pronunciation issues semi from my brain injury. Give me grace, please. Thank you. And all those neurotransmitters are the ones that get fucked up by drugs and alcohol. Endorphins, we all know that exercise increases endorphins. Insert here the iconic line from Legally Blonde when Reese Witherspoon is defending exercise mogul Brooke Windham. Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy, and happy people don't shoot their husbands. And guess what? Sis was goddamn right. Brooke was innocent, she did not shoot her husband.

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Almost dying taught me how to live. Being struck by a car left me in a three and a half week coma with 15 broken bones and 16 surgeries to complete, including brain surgery. However, I woke up from that coma in an even greater place than I ever foresaw for myself. How? The universe will guide you out of the darkness and into the light if you allow it. Often, spirituality comes off as too highbrow. I'm not about that. Welcome to the podcast that talks and teaches about it through the lens of humor. Together, we'll harness positive energy and use it to work with the universe, all while giggling the entire time. Welcome to Gabriella Rebranded Win Most, Lose Some. To close

Season Finale Goals And Hyrox Fundraiser

SPEAKER_00 1:33

out this season, I thought there was no better way to do it than to talk about the benefits of exercise for the brain and mental health. Anyone who knows me and has listened to this podcast knows how important this is to me. So I thought it was about time to put my money where my mouth is and drop some facts on y'all. As I will be closing out this season for summer hiatus, I will be competing in HyROX, New York on June 7th. Through that, I am fundraising for mental health, which isn't something I had to do in order to compete, but it's something that I chose to do because physical health and mental health are so connected and it's so important to me. And I wanted to stand 10 toes down on that. I mean, the brain is a physical part of your physical body. So it makes sense that the two are connected. Don't know why that's hard for some people to get. I became focused on exercise because I was trying to support, save, and help heal my brain. And I've maintained my commitment for that exact reason. Also, being hot doesn't hurt, I won't lie. The aesthetics are nice. I do like the external validation. It's great. This podcast is also about being demonest, all right? All right, we're sharing. I've been training super hard for high rock since the start of this year. And since then, my life has revolved around that. Between what I eat, how I structure my daily schedule, not smoking weed. Gasp! I know that's a big one. But between not smoking weed, making sure that my sleep schedule is very strictly maintained. Only dating guys who prioritize exercise so that we can understand each other. Yeah, this event has kind of taken over my life. If Jeff Bezos has a chokehold on my credit card, then exercise has a chokehold on my entire life. And Daddy Bezos' grip is ironclad. Training for this event has been the only thing this whole year that's as important to me as this podcast. And I don't think I'm stopping when this training is complete. A lot of my friends have made the joking comment about how after June 7th they get me back. But I think they're kind of gonna have to roll with this new version of me. Meeting like-minded people, having a goal to work towards, loving how I look and feel, this new form of structure to my routine that I am so, so, so proud of and every day wake up proud. But there's more than that. There's all the benefits to my brain and mental health, which is the entire reason I got into exercise after my accident. Work out for the brain and the body will follow. Loving exercise is loving your brain. The gym saved me. Before I tell you how, for one last time this season, hit me up on social media at Gabriella Rebranded on everything. Sign up for my newsletter at Gabriellorebranded.com. Like, review, subscribe, follow, rate, share it with a friend. Do all the things. And if you're convinced after listening to this episode, head over to show notes where you will see the link to sponsor me and donate to mental health. Let's give to others what exercise gave to me. Thank you, Hyrocks, for offering me this chance. This episode is not me screaming from the rooftops, okay? This is me spitting facts that come from science, biology, and neuroscience specifically. Let's

Neuroplasticity And BDNF Brain Fertilizer

SPEAKER_00 4:59

start with the biggest one: neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is how the brain grows and repairs itself over time. For a while, we thought neuroplasticity and brain growth and repair kind of stopped at 25-27, but that is not true. Research has shown that the brain is continually evolving and exercise helps to do just that. Exercise releases a protein called BDFN, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Okay, what the fuck is that shit? Well, the metaphor that I read, I did not come up with this myself, but the metaphor that I read is BDFN is like fertilizer for your brain. BDFN helps the brain grow new neurons, especially in the memory hippocampus part of the brain. It strengthens connections between existing neurons and even repairs neuropathways. A lot of my doctors say that I wouldn't have recovered as well as I have without exercise, and that's factually true. After a TBI, the brain tries to compensate for the parts of the brain that happened by teaching other parts of the brain to do the exact same thing. Exercise accelerates this process by releasing a plethora of BDFN. A lot more is released than what would be released without exercise. Therefore, exercise increases and speeds up brain injury recovery. Exercise and releasing a surplus of BDFN is like putting your brain on steroids but healthy steroids, not the bad kind. Like neurohealing steroids. Currently, I remember things a lot better than I quote should for someone with my level of TBI. I mean, except for anything visual. I will remain losing everything, my phone and my rings specifically. Of course, I don't know what the future holds, but as of this very moment in time, myself and others are often so impressed by how much that I can remember. And that is very much thanks to exercise.

Energy Brain Fog And Mitochondria

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Second benefit to the brain from exercise, increased energy. After any form of brain injury, your brain is craving an extreme amount of energy because it's got a lot of healing to do. But also, unfortunately, after a brain injury, delegation of energy and how it gets used and when and where is inefficient. As we all learned in the seventh grade, for me, Miss Fitzsimmons class specifically, the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Exercise increases the efficiency of mitochondrial functioning. With the increased blood flow to the brain, with that comes an increase of oxygen and glucose to the brain. This helps regulate the brain's inefficiency and smooth out the firing of neurons. As a result, exercise diminishes fatigue and brain fog and helps the brain turn on, for lack of a better term.

Neurotransmitters: Drugs vs Exercise

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Third, exercise directly changes your brain in a healthy way, unlike drugs and alcohol, which can directly change it in a bad way. The neurotransmitters that exercise is affecting are the ones that are connected to cognition and mood. I'm talking about serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and norepinephrine. If I pronounce that wrong, I have pronunciation issues stemming for my brain injury. Give me grace, please. Thank you. And all those neurotransmitters are the ones that get fucked up by drugs and alcohol. I'll start with the obvious one endorphins. We all know that exercise increases endorphins. Insert here the iconic line from Legally Blonde when Reese Witherspoon is defending exercise mogul Brooke Wyndham. Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy, and happy people don't shoot their husbands. And guess what? Sis was goddamn right. Brooke was innocent, she did not shoot her husband. Serotonin controls mood and stability. More of it equals less depression. Dopamine controls your motivation, function, and reward. Dopamine is known as the feel-good hormone. A lot of times people do things both good and bad for the rush of dopamine. Exercise just increases its presence in general, so you naturally have more of the feel-good hormone and therefore consistently feel better. Norepinephrine has to do with your alertness and attention. ADHD, for example, is caused by low levels of norepinephrine, and ADHD medication increases the production of norepinephrine. Norepinephrine supports executive functioning, working memory, and cognitive stability. Stimulant drugs are all messing with the neurotransmitters that I just stated. Stimulants like MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamines like meth and adderall, ridolins, vivands, all the others. I'm not here to name all the stimulant drugs, but you get it, the stimulants. And opiates like heroin, oxy, morphine, vicodin, and again, there's more. I'm not here to list all I uh this isn't an anti-drug PSA, okay? But just those drugs, all right? They are all messing with the neurotransmitters that I just mentioned. Stimulants primarily affect norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. They force an excess release of these neurotransmitters and block reuptake, which is why when the stimulants wear off, there is a come-down effect brought on by the lack of those neurotransmitters in the brain. Opiates mimic endorphins at a higher intensity. They also bind to pain receptors, preventing dopamine reuptake, allowing there to be an excess of dopamine in the brain. And that's why when people stop using opiates, there's that whole little painful phenomenon called withdrawal. Opiates do a lot of other things to the brain, but this episode is about exercise, so we're just sticking to what they do to those neurotransmitters, okay? My point is exercise naturally increases the presence of all these neurotransmitters. And if drugs that are considered fun, party drugs, increase the presence of these neurotransmitters, and if addiction is a thing because it feels good, then exercise makes daily life more fun and more of a party. Without leading to things like withdrawal or the come down effect. Yay! To summarize, exercise makes you happier, less stressed, more energized, and more focused. It makes your memory better and helps you feel better overall, also helping you pay attention and be more alert. Remember when William Person was here, the former Olympian who talked about how brain injuries create inflammation on the brain, which is what causes things like CTE, William's solution was a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. While that is definitely true, exercise is an added aid to that.

Inflammation Nervous System And Sleep

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Because the fourth reason I have for y'all is that exercise decreases brain inflammation. A decrease in brain inflammation helps regulate the immune response and protect neurons from further damage. Reduced inflammation means a better healing environment for the brain. Reason number five, and I just did a whole damn episode on this, the nervous system. Exercise helps regulate that too. After trauma to the brain, like a traumatic brain injury, the brain can either get stuck in overdrive or shutdown. I broke this down more in the nervous system exhaustion versus dysregulation episode. If y'all want to give that a listen, there's there there's there's a lot there. We unpack that as well. There's a lot of science about the human body, guys. But a fun fact from it is that overdrive brings about feelings of being overwhelmed, overstimulated, anxious, and that whole little wired feeling that we sometimes have. Brain shutdown brings feelings of fatigue or feeling disconnected and numb. Exercise helps rebalance the autonomic nervous system. It supports your vagal nerve or vagal tone, which makes it easier to calm down. And it trains your body to better move more efficiently through states of stress and recovery. Exercise reduces anxiety and improves emotional regulation. Much love to reason number six, because a reason number six is perhaps the best one. Exercise makes you sleep better. During sleep, the brain clears waste via the lymphatic system. The brain also, during sleep, consolidates memory and repairs tissue. AKA fixes everything, you know? Exercise increases deep sleep and helps regulate the cacardian rhythm. I think I said that right, but I might have said it wrong. But the cacardian rhythm, which is what everyone, that's the first thing you see when you look up the signs of sleep, okay? Exercise helps regulate that. Overall, it makes it easier to fall asleep and more importantly, stay asleep. Better sleep means better brain recovery, better mood, and clearer thinking. There is a reason why when we're sick, all we want to do and all that we should do is sleep. Sleep is where healing happens. Healing can't happen without sleep. And exercise improves that. So exercise helps to sleep, helps you

Executive Function Healing And Farewell

SPEAKER_00 13:42

heal. Lastly, exercise helps rebuild cognitive function. Aerobic and coordinated movement improves attention, executive functioning, and memory. Executive functioning is what was primarily affected in my TBI, and executive functioning affects basically everything you're dealing with interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. The prefrontal cortex is known as the brain's air traffic control. It controls all things related to attention, emotions, and behavior. That includes decision making, planning, fight or flight response, switching gears, impulse control, organization, time management, and so, so, so, so much more, as I have brutally had to discover. Exercise supports the prefrontal cortex or frontal lobe, and that's what my brain needs support in. But all of our brains need strong executive functioning. I mean, your frontal lobe, the prefrontal cortex, that's your brain's system manager. Of course you need it to be strong. Aerobic exercise and coordinated movement forces your brain's balance, motor, sensory, and cognitive systems to all fire at once on all cylinders. Thus, this proves my overarching statement that exercise is just as much for the brain as it is for the body. It's dead ass a brain workout. Exercise is forcing your brain to work out. And you know, working out makes it stronger. So exercise makes your brain stronger. See? Exercise hits every single brain recovery pathway at once. It helps your brain chemistry, neurotransmitters, brain rewiring, neuroplasticity, energy or mitochondrial functioning, inflammation and immune response, healing and sleep, your nervous system regulation, cognitive and executive functioning, and memory. Got all of that. Did you see that? Exercise makes you happier, more energetic, less tired, less stressed, more present, more focused, more calm, less distracted, more balanced, and more emotionally stable. Exercise is truly equivalent to giving your brain medicine and a much-needed hug. And sometimes we all just need a fucking hug. Mental health and physical health are one in the damn same. Do you believe me now? Have I proved my damn point? Please, please, please, let's give that to as many people as possible. Please, please, please. Once again, head over to the link in my bio or the show notes and please, please sponsor me and shoot a quick donation over to mental health for Hyrocks New York. During my podcast break in summer hiatus, that's one of the things I am absolutely going to remain focused on. I will also finally finish my damn book. I originally thought that I could do the podcast and finish my book at the same time. No, not possible at all. When my brain is in podcast mode, my brain is in podcast mode. And since my brain has been in podcast mode for over a year now, it's time to get my brain back to book mode. I am so confident in my healing mentally, emotionally. And a lot of that is thanks to exercise. So thank you guys so much for tuning in this season. I don't know exactly when I'll be back because it depends on book progress, but I'm shooting for, as of now, late summer, early fall. I am so excited to have the best news to update you guys on. I don't know what the best news is gonna be because I don't know if the best hasn't happened yet, but I'm so excited. I know it's coming to me. I already have the season three premiere episode guest picked out and it's an incredible one. So I'm so, so, so excited to come back. Season three is gonna be even better than it already has been because if I wasn't continually building and continually being better and making something better, what would be the point of still being at this thing? I have so much love for Gabriella Rebranded and even more love for all my listeners. Supporting Gabriella Rebranded is supporting all trauma survivors, all of our healing, all of our connection, and that's supporting peace and joy and adding love to the world. Thank you so, so, so much for the last time in season two. This has been Gabriella Rebranded. Win the fucking most and lose the fucking least. Okay, bye.