Slashdot Mirror
Why Exercise Boosts Brainpower
aditi sends us a report from Reuters on research indicating that exercise boosts brainpower by building new brain cells in a brain region linked with memory and memory loss. Quoting: "Tests on mice showed they grew new brain cells in a brain region called the dentate gyrus, a part of the hippocampus that is known to be affected in the age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most humans. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging scans to help document the process in mice — and then used MRIs to look at the brains of people before and after exercise. They found the same patterns, which suggests that people also grow new brain cells when they exercise."
I nevar work out and my brane wurks as well as ne1 elses!
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
That explains Schwartzenegger! (Doesn't explain Stallone though).
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Wow, who would have thought that exersize actually improves your body in some way?
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
So here we are, once again, with Locke's ideal of a sound mind in a sound body.
The challenge for computer geeks: finding a way to merge exercise with mostly-sedentary hobbies and jobs. Perhaps it's a job for mobile computing: Set a tablet PC in front of a treadmill, and read Slashdot while running?
I will develop some mouse cells in my brain?
What's the catch? Have I missed something?
Do I need more jogging?
"Exercise generated blood flow to the dentate gyrus of the people, and the more fit a person got, the more blood flow the MRI detected, the researchers found."
However, if your gym looks like this one shown in the article, I think the blood will flow elsewhere
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
They're not "dumb", but they're also not necessarily the intellectual type. From what I've seen, the reason for that is that your intellectual spends too much time in an introverted state to worry about the world around them. Regular exercise is not engaging to their internal senses, so they tend to find it "boring". The more extroverted types get their engagement from the world around them, and thus find pleasure in physical activity.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
That explains all those pro-quarterback particle theorists! "Gauge bosons are like running backs right? They gotta take the elemental forces of the universe to the end zone."
crazy dynamite monkey
...Stephen Hawking benchpresses bulldozers when no one is watching!
So if I couple the above article with this one then I can only assume that I am supposed to exercise and smoke a whole lot of pot while I do it.
My Computer Music Tutorial Videos
I would suspect it is because they don't actually try to actively use their minds? (assuming this is entirely true) For instance, giving someone who doesn't exercise anabolic steroids would not turn them into a strong person.
Stallone is an accomplished script writer and a damned good businessman. Take a look at the deal he struck when he wrote and sold Rocky to the studio (he basically retained the rights to future sequels). Stallone has been able to fly under the radar because he sounds uneducated when he talks (due to an injury sustained at birth, if I remember correctly).
I walk my virtual dog around Second Life every day you insensitive clod!
I'm in between insightful sigs right now...
How do I know this?
Because 99% of the really smart people I've met in my life are big, fat, dope-smoking UNIX guys who think a treadmill is a place where corn is ground up to make tires.
"I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
Please list the number of Nobel prise winning Boxers.
Ok, list the number of them that can name all 50 states and count without looking at their hands and feet.
sorry, but most atheletes, specifically the pound each other type are not the brightest. I've never met a smart rugby player, But they are handy in a brawl.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
They aren't talking about Atheletes, as there job is to be good physically over mentally. They are talking about getting basic exercise so we dont have a fat useless society.
My fiance is in the science world and of the ones we know (a ton mind you) they all do some sort of exercise. Yet of all the IT people I know (again a lot) maybe 1% actually do anything.
One increases your Brain Age and lets you socialize with your pets (DS), the other lets you get exercise indoors (Wii).
But in most scientific studies, the things that consistently help ameliorate the effects of aging are: mild to moderate exercise (even walking up stairs or parking 2 blocks away), a varied diet high in vegetables and fruits, drinking red wine (men) or grape juice (anyone), and more education.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
High performance sporting is not healthy. Repeat: NOT healthy. I've been training for marathons with an Olympic athlete who consistently runs 42K in under 2 hours 15 minutes. He needs to take a continuos stream of dietary supplements and run 25 kilometers daily, use special cushioning on all his footwear to compensate for the deformation that the impact of running produces, and keep an extremely strict dietary regimen, not to mention constant sports massages to keep himself from cramping as well as a myriad of other things.
Being a professional means pushing your body to extremes it was not meant to take. We're not built to run such distances at those speeds.
Remember though, that only applies to the 0.001% of the population that plays professionally and has masochistic tendencies. Your average slashdotter should get off its ass and at the very least walk a half hour daily. I know that ever since I started running in the morning my day feels much better than before, and indeed I do feel sharper.
Dude, this sucks. A year and a half ago you guys said that cannabinoids induce brain growth and man, I've really been putting that theory to the test. But now you want me to exercise? I can't do both dude. And given a choice... I think I'll stick with the old news...
There aren't any nobel prize winning boxers because they are devoting their time to boxing and not to science. I'd suspect you could find some nobel prize winners that work out.
Here's an interesting anecdote: Scientists were running rats through a maze with a reward system to measure how fast they learn. Rats soon learn the optimum path and get rewarded. COnclusion: rats are smart and learn. Now substitute in a ferret. Ferret searches maze and finds the food (hunk of rabbit). Next time the ferret does not go down that path of the maze. Conclusion: ferrets are stupid and don't learn. But if you know a bit more about ferrets, then you'd know that they know it is a waste of time to go down the same hole twice. They've either eaten or scared the occupants, so don't waste time.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
As a marathon runner over the years I have noticed something with new runners that show up at our winter-spring clinics who have recently or are trying to quit smoking. The ones that stick with the regime (about 16 weeks) that it takes to prep for a marathon I have repeatedly told me that they lose their nicotine craving almost totally, and that the running seems to be a big part of it. These are people who were previously quite hardcore smokers for a number of years. Could it be that running (and other forms of exercise) that stimulates new brain cell production also rewires the brain from its nicotine addiction in smokers?
Actually, I remember reading about a study that indicated genius level processing in peak performing athletes. For example, an NFL quarterback can identify 3 - 5 potential receivers, track their viability, and decide how to execute a play in under a second--while avoiding defenders.
I would argue that such ability takes a level of intelligence that, if applied to other pursuits, would be widely recognized as remarkable.
He seemed pretty smart.
Edwin Hubble
Why are so many posts with factual errors modded up?
Bicycling for exercise:
When I started bicycling, outdoors, each day I would tackle the same hill, and see how long it took to get up there, and back down. Used one of those handlebar bicycle computers. Going up, when it got hard, lots of cuss words were appropriate to the pain and extreme effort. That in itself did not boost brainpower, the same ones seemed appropriate on each assent. Soon, I varied the ride, going other places in the same outing. Looking for some more hills, where I could exercise my verbal skills where needed. Eventually, over thousands of miles, I could easily ride 50 miles in a day, not along one road (boring), but all over the place. I lost weight, and felt healthy, at least. It is dangerous to bicycle, I broke my leg once. When I could, I just bicycled with one leg, after mending a while. That helped the circulation overall. I did notice that the leg muscle disappears when you are laid up with a broke leg.
When you bicycle, it is important to at least think that you are doing a lot, and are "setting some records". The bicycle computer helps with that, If your average speed goes down on a certain course, you are getting better at it. To shave time off that average takes a lot of planning, and you cannot falter. So, you think your are doing something. Perhaps while you are bicycling, some teenagers come along and try and outrun you. You keep up with them, and soon they tire, as they are not trained.
For all of this, you need a good bicycle, well maintained. I broke that leg because the gears slipped, were too worn, apparently, and I was applying a lot of pressure to the pedals. Not all bicycle shops fix your bike right, some just hire kids, don't replace needed parts either. Any doubt, replace a 4000 mile bike with a new one, don't take chances. You'll know when a bike is a good one, take a short test ride. There won't be any doubt, and you'll be happy to take it home with you today.
I fixed up my mountain bike with special easy-rolling tires, and "police" inner tubes, that won't go flat. Those inner tubes are so thick, they look like they belong on a motorcycle.
Rapidweather's Linux Screenshots.
Thats like great and all, but when is somebody going to do something about how fat I am?
Good security is based upon reality and common sense. Common sense is a function of having common knowledge.