PE for grad students
Another study links aerobic exercise to increased cognitive performance:
Start running and watch your brain grow, say scientists
Running (a lot of it) was found to improve the performance of mice on tests of memory. The mechanism: increased neurogenesis.
There's a fair amount of evidence that exercise boosts cognitive performance in people, too. A few overviews:
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School - the author gave a great talk at Google that's on YouTube
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
So, grad students and postdocs, lace up your running shoes!
-
on Wed, Jan 20, 12:01PM
More kickball!
-
on Wed, Jan 20, 01:01PM
I second the recommendation of John Medina's talk at Google. I generally liked Brain Rules, too, although I did have some reservations about some of his ideas. I will have to check out the other book.
-
on Wed, Jan 20, 02:01PM
That's pretty interesting. I'm no neuroscientist, but I don't think the idea that exercise leads to better cognitive performance requires an assumption of minimal brain evolution since pre-agrarian times. The pathways by which exercise is thought to exert its effects are quite low level: brain oxygenation, modulation of cortisol levels, etc. I imagine it would take a rather dramatic evolutionary jump to change the response of brain cells to oxygen levels (but again, I'm no biologist).
The studies Medina cites in his Google talk (I've only read bits and pieces of his book) are pretty compelling.
-
on Wed, Jan 20, 06:01PM
I think I agree Geoff. The "brain rule" that exercise is good does seem independent of the assumption that the brain is not evolving. The text of the Brain Rules book does seem to make that assumption, though. If I recall correctly, though, some of the other "brain rules" may rely on the assumption that brains aren't evolving.
Either way, my linked-to post was meant as a general discussion of the conflicting views of whether or not the brain is evolving, and not meant to specifically address exercise in any particular way.
-
-
