Regular Cardiovascular Activity

Thesis: Regular cardiovascular activity improves brain function as heart and brain are in constant relationships.

1. Cardiovascular fitness is necessary for the healthy functioning of the whole organism.
2. Cardiovascular activity constantly influence wellbeing of brain activity.
3. Cardiovascular activity improves brain activity in different ages.
4. Physical activity may improve even cognitive functions of children.

 Andreassi, John L. (2007). Heart Activity and Behavior II: Stress, Emotions, Motivation,

 Personality, Social Factors, Brain Interactions, and Conditioning. In J. Andreassi  (Ed.) Psychophysiology Human Behavior and Physiological Response (pp.438-500). Mahwah, N.J.: Routledge.

The chapter reveals information about factors, which can affect the development of cardiovascular disease, and indicates that both scientific and popular media continually report on the role of cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Questions about interactions between heart and brain activity and the classical and instrumental conditioning of cardiac activity are also reviewed.

The chapter can be evaluated as qualitative, credible source as is based on different scientific researchers and is well referenced. It is relevant for all who are interested in medicine, especially for those who study the factors, which contribute to heart disease and system of interaction of cardiovascular activity, and brain function as it provides background information for it and supports the thesis in the point that cardiovascular activity constantly influence wellbeing of brain activity. It is clearly seen from the quotation: “The decreased HR that occurs under instructions to detect signals leads to a decrease in the inhibitory influence of baroreceptors on cordial function, resulting in enhanced brain activity and improved performance” (Andreassi, 2007, p. 453).

Buckley, J., Holmes, J., & Mapp, G. (1999). Exercise on Prescription: Cardiovascular Activity

 for Health. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

The book is a practical guide that presents set of cardiovascular exercises, which have the direct impact on brain activity. It describes the mechanism of their work and shows how they influence well being of different people. In addition, it presents the program of improving of cardiovascular health.

The book is qualitative and credible as it is evidence – based and well – referenced. It is relevant as a practical guide for practitioners and for students who are working on the topic peculiarities of relationship between cardiovascular activity and brain because it gives the tangential information about the spheres of influence of physical exercises that help to reveal the main thesis. It is proved by the quotation: “Low, but regular levels of increased physical activity can help improve health with benefits to blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and mental state” (Buckley, Holmes, & Mapp, 1999, p.4).

Corbin, C. B., Lindsey, R., Bonnell, S., & Gilchrist, J. S. (1991).Cardiovascular Fitness. In C.

 Corbin (Ed.), Fitness for Life (pp.103-132). Toronto: Gage Educational Pub.

The chapter reveals information about the peculiarities of cardiovascular activity. Especially it is concentrated on cardiovascular fitness. It presents the main part of cardiovascular fitness, describes the benefits of cardiovascular fitness to health and wellness, determines how much cardiovascular fitness is enough, and shows how it interacts with brain activity.

The chapter can be evaluated as qualitative, credible source as it published by the Gage Educational Publishing. It is relevant for all who are interested in medicine, especially for those who study the topic of interaction of cardiovascular activity and brain function as it provides background information for it and supports the thesis in the point that cardiovascular fitness is necessary for the healthy functioning of the whole organism. It is clearly seen from such quotation: “When doing regular physical activity, to improve your cardiovascular fitness requires fitness of the heart, lungs, blood, blood vessels, and mussels” (Corbin, Lindsey, Bonnell., & Gilchrist, 1991, p. 103).

Ekle, E. (2010). The Nervous System. In K. Mauk (Ed.),Gerontological Nursing: Competencies

 for Care (pp. 161-180). New York: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

The chapter presents the general information about the nervous system.  It is a student-accessible and comprehensive text that offers an inter-disciplinary and holistic approach to caring for the elderly. Thereby, the information in the chapter about the nervous system is based mainly on the peculiarities of the nervous system and brain in the elderly age.  

The chapter is qualitative and credible as it is provided with illustrations and references. The chapter is relevant for students because it gives skills and theory, which are necessary to provide care for the growing elderly population. It gives the tangential information about the influence of the cardiovascular system on the brain that helps to reveal the main thesis. It is shown by the quotation. It is proved by the quotation: “Study findings showed that increases in cardiovascular fitness resulted in increased functioning of the brain’s attentional network during a cognitive challenge” (Ekle, 2010, p.163).

Macpherson, A., Neti, S., Averbach, M., Macpherson, P., Chutakositkanon, C., & Nathanson, D.

(2011). The Influence of Heart Stress on the Brain: A Preliminary Study. In B. Brebbia (Ed.), Modelling in Medicine and Biology (pp. 73-85). New York: WIT Press.

It is a scientific research, which reveals the peculiarities of interaction between the cardiac hemodynamic and brain activity. The research includes the analysis of scientific studies of the heart and brain activity, experimental part, and different graphics that exemplify these results. The research defines that there is a definite relation between heart stress and certain brain activity. In the conclusion author states that this preliminary study shows that data useful to a clinician monitoring dobutamine testing can be obtained.

This research is qualitative and credible as it is well referenced, illustrated by graphs and practical examples. It is relevant for all people, who are interested in the studying of medicine on the academic level. The research by all the information presented in it supports the main thesis in the point that regular cardiovascular activity improves brain function as heart and brain are in constant relationships. “Based on that model it was shown there is considerable feedback between the pressure regulators and the heart rate” (Macpherson, Neti, Averbach, Macpherson,  Chutakositkanon, & Nathanson, 2011, p.74).

McCraty, R., & Rees, R. (2011). Heart-brain Connection. In S. Lopez (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of

 Positive Psychology New York: John Wiley & Sons.

The chapter presents well-structured information about peculiarities of the interaction between heart and brain. It reveals the scientific researches of how the brain functions and how the heart and brain influence each other in a dynamic relationship that has an impact on many aspects of cognition and gives rise to emotional experience. In addition, the chapter describes the four major ways with the help of which heart communicates with the brain. These are neurological, biomechanical, biophysical, and energetic way.

The information presented in the chapter is qualitative and credible as the chapter is well – referenced, and the authors are specialists in the sphere of medicine and researchers of the Institute of Heart Math. The chapter is relevant for students, practitioners, teachers as it presents necessary information for the researching of the topic peculiarities of relationship between heart and brain. The chapter supports the thesis in the point that heart and brain are in constant relationships. It is shown by the quotation: “The connections between the heart and brain are complex and involve an ongoing dialogue in which the two major systems continuously interact and influence one another’s function” (McCraty., & Rees, 2011).

Melendez, S. (2001). How to strengthen your brain. Mahwah, NJ: Routledge.

This book gives detailed information about the ways, which help to strengthen the brain. It defines that: “brain is a thinking organ that learns and grows by interacting with the world through perception and action, and mental stimulation improves brain function and actually protects against cognitive declaim as does physical exercise” (Melendez, 2001, p.4). The book is not based only on theoretical material but on practical pieces of advice.

The book is qualitative and credible as it is provided with evidences, pictures, graphs, and references. The chapter is relevant for scholars, researchers, graduate students with an integrated approach to the study of neurosciences, and for those who are working on the topic peculiarities of relationship between the heart and brain because it gives the essential information about the way of stimulating and improving of brain activity. It gives the information that helps to reveal the main thesis in the point that cardiovascular activity improves brain activity in different ages. It is shown by the quotation: “Even beyond age 70, cardiovascular exercise can improve memory and reasoning skills. People who have chosen a lifetime of relative inactivity can benefit mentally from improved aerobic fitness” (Melendez, 2001, p.83).

OECD. (2007). Understanding the Brain; Birth of a Learning Science. Paris: OECD.

This book provides new researches and insights about learning of peculiarities of brain activity and defines the factors that influence it.  It describes how the brain develops and functions at different stages in the life of human being from birth to death and what the modern brain imaging techniques and other advances in the neurosciences actually exist, and how they influence activity of the brain when it is involved in acquiring skills such as counting, writing and reading.

The book is qualitative and credible as it is provided with evidences, pictures, graphs, and references. The chapter is relevant as a professional reference for scholars and researchers, graduate students with an integrated approach to the study of neurosciences, and for those who are working on the topic peculiarities of relationship between the heart and brain because it gives the essential information about the peculiarities of the brain activity. It gives the tangential information that helps to reveal the main thesis. It is shown by the quotation: “There is evidence that physical activity leads to an improvement of motor co-ordination and control (e.g. balance, overall motor co-ordination, specific motor skills and body awareness) with implications for addressing learning problems and attention disorders” (OECD, 2007, p.67).

Rippe, J. (2013). How does Physical Activity Counteract Normal and Pathological Cognitive

 Aging?. In J. Rippe (Ed.), Lifestyle Medicine (pp. 1387-1400). New York: CRC Press.

The chapter reveals information about the effect of cardiovascular fitness on pathological cognitive aging. It reveals that MRI evaluation of older adults classified by cardiovascular fitness level has found that higher fitness resulted in increased brain volume of white and grey matter and explains the reasons of such result. Especially chapter is concentrated on benefits of physical activity in children and young adults.

The chapter is qualitative and credible as it is provided with illustrations and references and is evidence-based research. The chapter as a practical base is relevant for general practitioners, physicians and other health care workers and as a professional reference for researchers, scholars, undergraduate students, and for those who are working on the topic peculiarities of relationship between heart and brain. Especially the chapter supports the thesis that physical activity may improve cognitive functions of children. It is proved by the quotation: “Some studies are revealing distinct effects of increased brain volume and improved executive function of working memory in children as young as 9 years of age” (Williamson, 2013, p.1390).

Williamson, J. (2005). Brain Activation during Physical Activity. In E. Acevedo &

 E. Panteleimon (Eds.) Psychobiology of Physical Activity (pp. 29-42). New York: Human Kineticks.

This chapter stresses selective aspects of brain activation during physical activity, primarily involving central modulation of cardiovascular responses during exercise and brain reorganization in response to physical therapy. It provides “an overview of scientific literature involving physical activity and human brain (Williamson, 2005, p.30).

The chapter is qualitative and credible as it is provided with pictures, graphs, and references. The chapter is relevant as a professional reference for scholars and researchers, as a part of textbook for graduate students with an integrated approach to the study of human behavior in sport and exercise, and for those who are working on the topic peculiarities of relationship between heart and brain. The chapter supports the thesis in the point that heart and brain are in constant relationships and these relationships are essential for wellbeing of human. It is shown by the quotation: “The interaction between physical activity and the human brain is not limited simply to cardiovascular modulation and neural plasticity. Physical activity has the capacity to affect many aspects of our overall “mental health and well-being” (Williamson, 2005, p.40).

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