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According to research conducted at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas, the neural connections in the brain are renewed in people who swim regularly. This is because swimming increases the concentration of the growth hormone BDNF in the brain. This makes the gray cells work better – including learning and memory performance.
Swimming has positive effects on the brain in all age groups
Science now knows that exercise in general has a positive effect on the brain. However, it has now been proven that swimming stimulates the brain even more than many other sports.
In younger people, as little as 20 minutes of breaststroke per day improves brain performance. According to several studies, seniors who swim regularly are also mentally more efficient than their peers who do not swim.
For children, regular swimming even accelerates development: early swimmers show better intellectual and motor skills than non-swimmers. Their physical and mental development is also faster. This enables them to learn skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic faster than children who do not swim.
Why swimming of all things?
Currently, researchers do not agree on why swimming stimulates brain performance more than other sports. One theory is that the calming effect of water contributes. Immersing yourself in water encourages your body to move in a natural, calming rhythm.
Furthermore, the fact that the whole body is involved in the movement in the water, and that all limbs must work together to overcome the resistance of the water, is something that swimming has over many other sports.
