Einstein Was A Jogger

In a study soon to be released in the scientific journal Hippocampus, scientists have shown that exercise will increase brain capacity.  Periods of reasonably vigorous physical activity result in the growth of the hippocampus, the structure in the brain responsible for the formation and storage of new memories and our spatial navigation abilities. “Spatial navigation abilities” is just a scientific way of describing our ability to walk down a hall without bumping into things.

Studies of  elderly people have shown that individuals who are generally physically fit have a larger hippocampus than their less active counterparts.  As a result, these individuals also demonstrated better spatial memory and superior mental clarity as compared to the inactive test group.

These studies show that the hippocampus is a key component in our ability to learn new concepts, retain memories, and navigate our way down a crowded city street.  And in this case, size does matter.  The bigger the hippocampus, the “smarter” we are.

Aging,  hypertension, and chronic alcoholism can all work to shrink the hippocampus.  Human and animal studies have also shown that mental stress will lead to shrinkage in the hippocampus.

How do we counteract the inevitable effects that aging and lifestyle can have on the hippocampus?

Experiments on mice have shown that rodents voluntarily running on an exercise wheel increase the size of their hippocampus.   Scientists also observed that these mice had an increase in the rate of neurogenesis, or the production of new neurons.   Note that I said voluntarily.  These same experiments demonstrated that mice forced to run on the wheel for the same periods showed no increase in hippocampus size.

So, pestering a spouse or loved one to exercise may make them healthier, but probably not much smarter.

One of the scientists leading the study, Kirk Erickson, stated that the findings “supports the notion that your lifestyle choices and behaviors may influence brain shrinkage in old age. Basically, if you stay fit, you retain key regions of your brain involved in learning and memory.”

Exercise to stay fit.

Exercise to stay smart.

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