A study proves that 25 minutes of physical activity are enough to improve spatial memory, even in sedentary people. 

An Argentine study has taken a step further in proving that physical activity could potentially generate new neurons in adulthood. Neuroscientists and technologists found that even sedentary individuals improved their spatial memory after undertaking 25 minutes of stationary bike exercise. The study, based on a type of spatial memory called Pattern Separation, was conducted at the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires and the Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias of the University of Buenos Aires. The study focused on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a protein related to the growth and health of neurons that increases with physical exercise. The experiment, adapted for humans using virtual reality, involved researchers from the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and the National University of the Centre of Buenos Aires Province (UNICEN). The study aimed to find indirect evidence of neurogenesis in humans triggered by exercise. In a virtual environment, a group of 98 volunteers aged between 18 and 40 were tasked with memorizing the location of a series of flags. The participants, divided into two groups, either exercised on a stationary bike for 25 minutes or watched a video of a cycling race. The results showed that all those who had undertaken physical exercise, including the sedentary participants, were able to correctly locate the flags in space, while those who had only watched a video of a race did not achieve this goal. The study represents a significant step towards proving that physical activity generates new neurons.