Blue Zone Your Memory No 10

Walking

Did you know that walking is good for the brain and that walking is considered a complex sensorimotor reflex? Walking requires combining information from vision and information from the feet, knees, hips, arms, and the physical orientation of the body in order to walk with balance and rhythm. In addition, the semicircular canals of the inner ears provide information about balance and changes to terrain and external stimuli, and movement from the arms and body, which may also affect balance (Pinel, 2009). This combination of information and the ability to quickly adapt to the many different ways that we walk can help our brain remain incredibility plastic, which is our brain's ability to adapt to new information and change.