Want to improve your memory? The right type of exercise can give it a boost

A brief bout of physical exercise can create "ripples" of activity in your brain that help you store and retrieve memories.

Memory can be such a fickle thing. Whether trying to remember people's names, recall a list of items you need from the shop or preparing for an important exam or job interview, information that was in your head one minute can flutter out the next.

But there's an easy way you can give your memory an instant boost when trying to learn new information – jump on an exercise bike for a few minutes or take a brisk walk.

Research shows that we can improve our memory by doing aerobic exercise, or cardio.

It's long been known that exercise boosts cognition – as I covered in my newsletter course Live Well for Longer. Physical activity improves how well we perform on tasks and strengthens brain areas vulnerable to ageing, potentially slowing down cognitive decline.

But physical exercise can also strengthen an area of the brain important for memory – the hippocampus, which is why it can have a positive effect on our memory. Moderate exercise a few times a week for instance has been found to increase the size of the hippocampus. Other studies have shown that the timing of the exercise can make a difference too – going for a walk four hours after learning can improve memory retention and subsequent retrieval compared to exercising immediately afterwards. Stretching exercises, by comparison, did not provide any memory boost.

Until now it's been difficult for scientists to understand the processes at play. One new research study aimed to do exactly that.

Neuroscientists peered inside the heads of 14 people immediately after exercise and observed tiny bursts of electrical activity flowing between the brain cells, or neurons, that are known to be important for consolidating memories. These "brain ripples" are a phenomenon where many neurons activate together, says Michelle Voss, a neuroscientist at the University of Iowa who led the study. They play a key role in how the brain packages and stores memories during sleep and periods of quiet rest. (All those studied had drug resistant epilepsy, but the study looked at parts of the brain that were healthy and producing normal electrical signals.)

The team monitored the........

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