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The Walk That Rewires Your Brain
Forget supplements — this free, ancient habit builds your brain, boosts your mood, and adds years to your life. From the Wellness Lab: Notes from a Cancer Doctor, Bodybuilder, and Brain Optimist.
By Michael Hunter, MD
🧠 A Prescription I Gave Myself
I prescribe radiation therapy by day, but the most powerful medicine I’ve found lately is my shoes.
Every day, I walk.
Not just to get from point A to B, but to remember who I am.
I walk to think. I walk to feel. I walk to heal.
And now, science is catching up to what our bodies and brains have known for centuries.
A landmark 2023 study from the University of Maryland showed that a single daily walk can increase connectivity between brain regions responsible for memory and emotion.
Other studies have found that regular walking increases the volume of the hippocampus — the part of the brain that shrinks in depression and Alzheimer’s.
We’re talking structural change.
Not a metaphor. Not mood. Matter.
