The Abs-Brain Axis

You’ve heard of the gut-brain axis, but now there’s also this!

Quick note: if you in fact haven’t heard of the gut-brain axis, then here you go:

• The Brain-Gut Highway: A Two-Way Street
• The Vagus Nerve (And How You Can Make Use Of It)
• The Gut Bacteria That Improve Your General Decision-Making In Life

Whence such considerations as: Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain – by Dr. Partha Nandi

So, what’s the new news?

Abs-olute brain benefits

This time, it has more to do with brain-cleaning, and how even small body movements—especially abdominal muscle contractions—can gently shift your brain inside your skull, helping cerebrospinal fluid circulate and clear waste.

You might remember the brain-centric part of this general idea from such things as:

• How To Clean Your Brain (Glymphatic Health Primer)
• Take Care Of Your Lymphatic System To Beat Cognitive Decline
• Goodnight, Glymphatic System: How Your Sleep Position Changes Dementia Risk

So, why are abdominal muscles special in this regard?

Per recent research by Dr. Beatrice Ghitti et al., tightening your core increases abdominal pressure, which pushes blood through the vertebral venous plexus—a vein network linking your abdomen, spine, and brain—creating a subtle hydraulic effect that moves your brain slightly. Sounds bad, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t!

This tiny brain motion was observed to help “rinse” the brain by moving cerebrospinal fluid across brain tissue, to support waste removal and reduce buildup associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and so forth.

We talk often about how “what’s good for your heart is good for your brain”, because of how the circulation is so important for that, and it goes not just for reducing risk factors (see: What’s Your Vascular Dementia Risk?), but also for improving cognitive function, e.g: How Your Exercise Today Gives A Brain Boost Tomorrow

In this case, it’s not just about circulation, however, because brain motion was linked more strongly to movement and abdominal contractions than to breathing or heartbeat, showing how physical activity itself may directly support brain-cleaning processes, in addition to circulatory benefits.

You can read the paper in full, here: Brain motion is driven by mechanical coupling with the abdomen

Want to learn more?

Check out:

Breathing For Pain Relief & Core Strength (How To Reconnect Your Breath & Body) ← this has to do with abdominal control also for, incidentally, brain benefits

Take care!