Does exercise make kids smarter?

That’s the claim of a lead article in an issue of Newsweek many years ago. The authors cite interesting evidence from a study conducted at an outstanding brain plasticity-oriented neuroscience research institute at the University of Illinois, where investigators have found that the kids with the fittest bodies are the kids with the fittest brains. There is a growing body of evidence that has argued that physical exercise is good for your brain. University of Illinois scientist Bill Greenough conducted a landmark study that showed, more than a decade ago, that physical exercise has a direct, positive impact on enriching the blood supply to a brain region that is engaged by that exercise (for example, the sectors of the brain controlling running movements). On the other hand, physical exercise by itself generated NO changes in the elaboration of brain connections. There was NO evidence that the running rat or hamster was smarter because they spent all day on the running wheel! THAT took new experiences and learning. Hey, just like Aristotle figured out!! You just can’t get something from nothing! I submit that if you go to the weight room in a gym, you will be hard pressed to assure yourself that you’re hanging out with a more cognitively competent crowd! That fact has also been confirmed by scientific study: BRAIN-LESS physical activity is much less useful for your cognitive fitness than physical activity that involves new experiences and continuous learning ...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Aging and the Brain Autism Origins, Treatments Brain Fitness Cognitive Impairment in Children Cognitive impairments Language Development Reading and Dyslexia Source Type: blogs