by Julie Fidler, Natural Society:

You might have heard that exercise treats the symptoms of depression and helps you prevent conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Well, you may be surprised to hear that some research even suggests that exercise can help improve your vision.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara looked at the effect of exercise on the brain by fitting 18 participants with heart rate monitors and asking them to complete an orientation task while on a stationary bike. This was then repeated during low- and high-intensity exercise and while at rest. The data were then fed into a computer for the researchers to assess. [1]

The team found that low-intensity exercise helped activate the visual cortex, which is involved in processing things that the eyes see.

Study author Barry Giesbrecht said:

“We show that the increased activation – what we call arousal – changes how information is represented, and it’s much more selective. That’s important to understand because how that information then gets used could potentially be different.” [1]

Lead author Tom Bullock, a postdoctoral researcher in UC Santa Barbara’s Attention Lab, said:

“We found that the peak response is enhanced during low-intensity exercise relative to rest and high-intensity exercise. We also found that the curve narrows in, which suggests a reduction in bandwidth.

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