Exercise can improve cognitive function in people with schizophrenia, a meta-analytic review of published studies indicates.
“Collectively, these studies show that aerobic exercise is effective for improving brain function overall in patients with schizophrenia, with particularly large effects on attention, working memory, and social cognition,” Joseph Firth, PhD, doctoral researcher at the Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.
“Improving the physical fitness of people with schizophrenia is not only important for physical health but also for mental health and brain functioning,” he added.
“Taking part in regular exercise would help people with psychosis and schizophrenia to concentrate more, hold more information in mind, and think more clearly about social situations, all of which would improve their ability to function in the real world and recover from their condition,” Dr Firth added.
I exercise as much as I can because I don’t want the giant spider to get me (depression). This study confirms what I thought was a truism: balanced exercise will help you get in line with yourself. There are three doctors we need besides pdocs, they are Dr. Diet, Dr. quiet and Dr. Merryman. Though I do not always want to exercise, I do push myself.
I realized that I can charge my mp3 player in my car, so I’ll be getting out there again. I walked and hatched a Pokemon egg today. I will start swimming too.
I can attest to this. I’ve recently started walking 2km to work in the morning.
I find that I function much better throughout the day because of it. I even got good feedback for a couple of case conferences I had to do yesterday. That I was well prepared, clear on our intentions and that I spoke well.
