How to Improve Cognitive Performance
The answer isn't brain training apps. It's simpler—and harder.
Students ask this constantly. So do professionals worried about aging, people preparing for exams, anyone wanting better concentration, memory, decision-making. How do I improve my cognitive performance?
They expect complicated answers. Nootropics. Brain training programmes. Meditation protocols. Memory techniques. Neurofeedback.
The actual answer: Exercise. Eat properly. Sleep regularly. Avoid chronic stress. Walk in nature. Live like a professional athlete. That's it.
Why This Answer Disappoints People
It's not sexy. It's not a hack. It requires changing behaviour, not buying a subscription. It sounds like generic wellness advice your doctor gives about everything.
But the evidence is unambiguous: physical health is cognitive health. You cannot optimise brain function whilst neglecting the body the brain inhabits.
Do not expect cognitive improvement if you:
Live a sedentary lifestyle (zero regular exercise)
Drink excessive alcohol or coffee
Smoke
Eat junk or heavily processed food
Have chaotic sleep patterns
Exist in chronically stressful social environments (constant conflict, competition, or isolation)
Fixing these problems may be sufficient to dramatically improve cognitive performance. No brain training required. Just stop sabotaging your own neurobiology.
Why Physical Exercise Affects Cognition
We have cultural prejudices about intellectual versus physical tasks. We imagine the brain doing "thinking" is separate from the brain controlling movement. This is false.
Three facts worth remembering:
1. Movement is a massive brain function
Depending on criteria, motor control and motor planning occupy one-third to one-half of the brain. "Physical" and "cognitive" tasks aren't separate—they're both brain tasks.
2. The brain is metabolically expensive
The brain has the highest metabolic activity of any organ. Approximately 20% of total energy consumption despite being ~2% of body weight. Anything affecting whole-body metabolism affects brain function FIRST.
3. The brain is reciprocally connected to the entire body
Anatomically via nerves. Chemically via neuropeptides, neurohormones, neuromodulators. The brain is directly impacted by global metabolic activity, by what you eat, breathe, drink, by stress levels, and by sleep quality (which itself regulates metabolism and neuronal activity).
The brain isn't an isolated computer. It's an organ embedded in a body. Optimise the body, you optimise the brain.
The Evidence: Exercise Beats Brain Training
Randomised controlled trials in healthy populations consistently show that physical exercise improves cognition—specifically executive functions (planning, working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control) and attention. This holds across all ages and conditions.
Study: Inactive late-middle-aged adults (Roig-Coll et al. 2020)
12 weeks of aerobic exercise training significantly improved cognitive performance.
Critical findings:
Adding cognitive training to physical training: no additional benefit
Cognitive training alone (without physical training): no benefit at all
Brain training apps without physical exercise don't work. Physical exercise without brain training apps works.
Gender Difference: Men Should Do More Cardio
Important finding: Preferences versus benefits don't align, particularly for men.
Cardiorespiratory exercise benefits everyone - both men and women show cognitive improvements from aerobic exercise. The mechanism is straightforward: anything that oxygenates the brain is beneficial. Cardio increases cerebral blood flow and oxygen delivery.
But men tend to prefer strength training - despite cardio being more beneficial for their cognitive function and neuroprotection.
Women benefit from both - both cardiorespiratory training and strength training improve cognitive performance in women.
Practical experience: After hours in front of screens - the cognitive strain, the accumulated mental fatigue, even headaches - strength training in the gym doesn't relieve it. Running does. Cardio clears the fog. This isn't subjective wellness talk - it's increased cerebral oxygenation resolving the metabolic demands created by sustained cognitive work.
My personal advice on intensity and environment: What relieves and resets is intense oxygenation combined with sweating. Seek the sweat - it's the indicator you've hit the threshold where real metabolic benefits occur. Moderate cardio at conversational pace won't cut it. You need intensity that triggers thermoregulation. Additionally, environment matters: running in natural spaces surrounded by trees (ideally old-growth woodland, not urban parks) provides higher-quality oxygen in less polluted air. Combining high-intensity cardio with natural environments maximises cerebral oxygenation - this is evidence-based optimisation, not just preference.
Recommendation: Men should prioritise cardiorespiratory exercise for cognitive preservation, even though many prefer lifting weights. Women can benefit from either modality or combining both. If you work cognitively demanding jobs (especially screen-based), regular cardio isn't optional - it's metabolic maintenance.
How Exercise Improves Cognition
Multiple mechanisms, still under investigation:
Mood regulation - Exercise stabilises mood, reduces anxiety and depression, both of which impair cognitive function
Sleep quality - Exercise improves sleep architecture and regularity
Appetite regulation - Exercise normalises hunger signals and eating patterns
Neurogenesis - Exercise promotes growth of new neurons, particularly in hippocampus (memory)
Neurotrophic factors - Exercise increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and other growth signals
Vascular health - Exercise improves cerebral blood flow and vascular integrity
Metabolic regulation - Exercise improves insulin sensitivity, glucose regulation, lipid profiles—all affecting brain function
This is burgeoning research. The molecular pathways are complex and not fully mapped. But the behavioural evidence is clear: exercise works.
What About Neurodegenerative Disease?
Exercise therapies show efficiency in various types of dementia and neurodegenerative conditions (Mahalakshmi et al. 2020). Physical activity isn't just cognitive enhancement for healthy people—it's neuroprotection and treatment for neurological disorders.
Prevention is easier than cure, but even after diagnosis, exercise provides measurable benefits.
Practical Recommendations
For cognitive performance:
1. Exercise regularly
Aim for 150 minutes moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week (standard public health recommendation). Men: prioritise cardio. Women: experiment with different modalities to find what works for you.
2. Eat whole foods
Minimise processed food, excessive sugar, trans fats. The brain is metabolically expensive—fuel it properly.
3. Sleep consistently
Same bedtime, same wake time. Prioritise 7-9 hours. Sleep irregularity sabotages everything else.
4. Manage stress
Chronic stress—particularly social stress, conflict, competition—is neurotoxic. Fix your relationships or exit toxic environments. Seriously.
5. Nature exposure
Walk outside. Green spaces. Natural light. This isn't mysticism—it's measurable stress reduction and circadian rhythm regulation.
These aren't supplements to cognitive training. They are cognitive training—just not the kind sold in apps.
Hard cognitive training (deliberate practice, skill acquisition, challenging mental tasks) has value. But it sits on top of this foundation. Without the foundation, it's building on sand.
Why This Is Difficult
The reason people want brain training apps instead of physical training is obvious: behaviour change is hard. An app is easy. A subscription is easy. Showing up to exercise when you're tired, eating well when you're stressed, maintaining sleep schedules when life is chaotic—these are difficult.
But difficulty doesn't make the answer wrong. The evidence is clear. Physical health is cognitive health. You cannot separate them.
Treat your body like a professional athlete treats theirs, and your brain will function better. There's no shortcut around this.
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References (accessible to non-scientific readers):
[1] Castells-Sánchez A, et al. (2021). Exercise and Fitness Neuroprotective Effects: Molecular, Brain Volume and Psychological Correlates and Their Mediating Role in Healthy Late-Middle-Aged Women and Men. Front Aging Neurosci, 13:615247. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.615247
[2] Castells-Sánchez A, et al. (2021). Sex Matters in the Association between Physical Activity and Fitness with Cognition. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 53(6):1252-1259. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002570
[3] Roig-Coll F, et al. (2020). Effects of Aerobic Exercise, Cognitive and Combined Training on Cognition in Physically Inactive Healthy Late-Middle-Aged Adults: The Projecte Moviment Randomized Controlled Trial. Front Aging Neurosci, 12:590168. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.590168
[4] Bidzan-Bluma I, Lipowska M. (2018). Physical Activity and Cognitive Functioning of Children: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 15(4):800. doi:10.3390/ijerph15040800
[5] Mahalakshmi B, et al. (2020). Possible Neuroprotective Mechanisms of Physical Exercise in Neurodegeneration. Int J Mol Sci, 21(16):5895. doi:10.3390/ijms21165895
