Exploring the Bicycle-Brain Connection: By KEVIN
HELLIKER In recent weeks, President Bush's active exercise regimen has
come under fire. Lost amid the controversy is a growing body of evidence
showing that exercise is good for the brain as well as the body. Ever since a physical exam in July deemed the 59-year-old
president to be extraordinarily fit, a series of columns and cartoons have
portrayed him as riding a bike when he ought to be running the country.
Adding force to the criticism was a report that the president asked a
potential Supreme Court nominee to describe his exercise program. This criticism would be unimportant if it were merely
political. But anyone who works out an hour a day is likely to discover that
many people in sedentary Yet the science behind exercise increasingly shows that it
provides a short-term boost to the ability to process data, among other
functions. Acute bouts of exercise have also been found to reduce depression
and anxiety, illnesses that can dampen mental functioning. Over time,
exercise has been shown to help ward off the mental effects of aging, perhaps
even Alzheimer's. Those findings suggest that exercise ought to be prized in any
employee whose job requires quick thinking and good judgment. Of course,
exercise doesn't guarantee that President Bush or anyone else will make good
decisions. "There is no evidence that you are wiser if you are physically
active," says Rod K. Dishman, a professor of
exercise science at the
Still, a flurry of studies has shown a link between exercise
and mental performance. A 2005 study in the Journal of Exercise Physiology
looked at how 884,715 fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders scored on a
state-mandated fitness test in Guess what? The fittest students had the best test scores. For
example, the average math score of students who achieved only three of six
fitness goals was 48; kids who achieve all six fitness goals had an average
math score of 60. "Results indicate a consistent positive relationship between
overall fitness and academic achievement," said the study. "As
overall fitness scores improved, mean achievement scores also improved." Of course, no researcher is suggesting that exercise can
replace intellectual exertion. Rather, it can enhance it. That effect can be quick. A 2003 article in the journal Acta Psychologica analyzed
dozens of studies on the short-term cognitive consequences of exercise.
"The empirical data provide compelling support for the view that aerobic
exercise can facilitate cognitive functioning," specifically information
processing, concluded the article, called "The Effects of Acute Bouts of
Exercise on Cognition." For some exercisers, the cognitive benefits often arrive even
before the workout is over. When author and entrepreneur Thomas Boettcher
swims, he keeps beside the pool a plastic bag containing pen and paper, to
jot down inspirations that strike during his workout. "Swimming enhances
my pattern of thinking," he says. The evidence is even stronger for the long-term benefits of
exercise. A study published last September in the Journal of the American
Medical Association found that, among more than 18,000 older women studied,
those who were most physically active had a 20% lower risk of cognitive
impairment. "Long-term regular physical activity, including walking, is
associated with significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive
decline in older women," the study concluded. In another study, researchers measured the ability of about 50
senior citizens to distinguish relevant from irrelevant data in a visual
exam. The study, published last year in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, found that aerobic exercise yielded a 20% improvement in
performance. "There were substantial effects of exercise on cognition,"
says Arthur Kramer, a Other research has shown that exercise can make the brain act
younger. Dr. Kramer, who directs the Now, researchers are trying to determine just how much and
what type of exercise produces the greatest cognitive benefits. "How long
do you need to exercise? At what intensity? And how long-lasting are the
effects?" asks Jennifer Etnier, a Thus far, it seems likely that extreme amounts
-- marathons, for instance -- can hurt as much as help, while modest amounts
of activity as simple as walking can be beneficial. • Email to healthjournal@wsj.com2.
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