Can Exercise Make You Smarter?

Jacob, like a lot of six year-olds, likes to run, climb, jump and crawl. He likes to play. What he calls playing, also qualifies as exercise.

Jacob is aware that all of this running, jumping and climbing is more than fun. “Because it keeps your body healthy and it makes your body feel better,” he said.

It’s no news flash that exercise is good for the body, but experts say it can also strengthen the mind. A recent study, conducted by the Salk Institute in California, suggested just that. By studying mice, researchers found that exercise boosts a number of brain cells in the hippocampus, the portion of the brain known to be centrally important for learning and memory.

“It could be enormous and it could provide justification for the inclusion and the time given to athletics,” said Dr. James Millhouse, sports psychologist.

Scientists still have plenty of research to do before concluding that the effects exercise has on mice could carry over to humans, but if it’s true, Jacobs mom will factor it into her parenting approach.

She plans to be more deliberate in involving him in sports and making sure he remains.

What Parents Should Know

Parents with couch potato children should take note, experts said. More than their kids’ waistlines could benefit from a little running and playing. Hopefully, the “exercise-brain cell” theory will be inspire parents to get their kids out the door and moving, doctors said. It may take a little extra creativity to provoke some children’s interest, but it is worth the trouble in the long run.

“If you try, you can usually find some kind of athletic activity that’s gonna match up well with a kid, with their needs and abilities,” Dr. Millhouse said.

Most people think of exercise as playing a sport, lifting weights, running or some other regimented activity, but a child can benefit from any sort of physical aciivity. The key is to get the kids off the couch or away from the computer long enough to get his or her heart-rate pumping.

A child can definitely learn a thing or two by surfing the net, reading a book or even watching television, running around the yard for a little while may give them more brain cells to absorb all of that new information.