When most people think about exercise, they think about weight loss, stronger muscles, or heart health. Very few stop to think about the brain. Yet movement may be one of the simplest and most powerful ways to protect our minds as we grow older. This matters now more than ever. Neurological and mental health conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, depression, and anxiety are rising across the world, including in Nepal.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2023 estimates, more than 55 million people globally are living with dementia, and that number is expected to increase sharply as populations age. At the same time, global disease burden analyses published in 2019 and updated in 2021 show that depression and anxiety are among the leading causes of disability worldwide.
In Nepal, where access to specialised neurological and mental health care remains limited, protecting brain health through everyday habits is becoming a public health necessity rather than a personal choice.
To understand why exercise matters, it helps to look inside the brain itself.
Understanding the brain
The brain relies on chemical messengers to allow its cells to communicate. One of the most important things is dopamine, which plays a central role in movement, motivation, and learning.
In Parkinson’s disease, dopamine-producing brain cells gradually stop functioning, leading to tremor, stiffness, and slowed movement. Research in neuroscience and clinical medicine over the past two decades has consistently shown that regular physical activity supports dopamine signalling and helps preserve motor circuits.
Influential studies by neurologists such as Michael Ahlskog in 2011 and follow-up clinical research by Jay Alberts and colleagues in 2013 and 2016 helped establish exercise as a core component of Parkinson’s care rather than just a lifestyle recommendation.
Beyond dopamine, movement benefits the brain in other important ways. When we walk, stretch, or engage in physical work, the heart pumps more efficiently and delivers oxygen and nutrients to brain cells.
Large population studies published between 2014 and 2020, including long-term cohort studies in Europe and North America, have shown that people who remain physically active have a significantly lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia compared to those who live sedentary lives. A major international review published by the Lancet Commission in 2020 reported that maintaining an active lifestyle is associated with roughly a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in dementia risk.
Exercise also triggers the release of protective substances in the brain known as growth factors. One of the most important is brain-derived neurotrophic factor, often described as nourishment for brain cells. Early experimental work in the early 2000s, followed by human brain imaging studies led by Arthur Kramer and colleagues in 2011, showed that this molecule helps brain cells survive, form new connections, and adapt to stress.
Higher levels of this factor have been consistently linked to better learning, emotional balance, and mental resilience. Among all lifestyle choices studied so far, regular physical activity remains one of the most reliable ways to naturally increase this protective signal.
Another often overlooked benefit of exercise is its effect on inflammation and sleep. Research published between 2015 and 2018 increasingly linked chronic low-grade inflammation to neurodegenerative disease, depression, and age-related cognitive decline.
At the same time, sleep research during the same period demonstrated that physical activity improves sleep quality and efficiency, allowing the brain to clear waste products that accumulate during waking hours. These findings helped strengthen the understanding that good sleep is not a luxury for brain health. It is essential.
Connection of physical activities and the brain
What makes exercise especially powerful is how accessible it is. It does not need to be intense, expensive, or gym-based. Walking in the neighbourhood, cycling, yoga, dancing, farming activities, household work, and active commuting all support brain health.
Large clinical trials and systematic reviews published in major medical journals between 2019 and 2024 have shown that even moderate physical activity, when done regularly, reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety and improves overall mental well-being. Studies conducted in Nepal and published through NepJOL between 2017 and 2022 have also reported positive links between physical activity, reduced stress, and better quality of life among students and older adults.
For people already living with neurological conditions, exercise offers more than prevention. Clinical studies in Parkinson’s disease published over the last decade show improvements in balance, confidence, mood, and independence in daily life with regular movement. Similar benefits have been reported in studies of older adults at risk of memory problems and in people experiencing chronic stress or depression. Across these studies, movement consistently restores a sense of control and dignity that illness often takes away.
In a country like Nepal, exercise represents a powerful and practical public health tool. It costs little, requires no prescription, and can be adapted to any age or ability. Public health research and policy discussions over the past decade increasingly emphasised the role of safe walking spaces, community parks, yoga programs, and public awareness campaigns in protecting brain health at the population level. Encouraging movement is not just an individual’s responsibility. It is a collective investment in national well-being.
Overall, exercise is not only about staying fit. It is about keeping the brain active, adaptable, and resilient. In that sense, movement is more than a habit. It is daily medicine for the brain, taken step by step.
