Study links exercise with brain function

Everyone knows the benefits of exercise for how your body functions, but what about your brain?
A group of University of Otago researchers have spent the past year studying how brain function is improved by exercise and were excited by what they found.
They took 55 students, aged from 18 to 30, and put them through a series of cognitive tests on a computer, measured the blood flow to their brains, had them complete an exercise questionnaire on their weekly physical activity, and complete a fitness test.
The extent of the neurological benefits of exercise were surprising.
The findings revealed links between frequency of physical activity and greater cerebrovascular reactivity, allowing for better control over blood flow in the brain which kept it in an optimal physiological state.
In addition, this improved control over blood flow was linked to superior control over reflexive reactions.
The ability to strategically control reactions enables people to concentrate better on given tasks, such as driving.
"It's assumed that young people are at peak physical condition, but our results indicate that there was room for improvement.
"The findings ... provide an initial challenge to the predominant view that living a sedentary lifestyle leads to problems only later in life," she said.
Furthermore, vigorous exercise was not necessarily important, rather, frequency was key.
Dr Machado said the research "provides supportive evidence that regularly engaging in at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, can lead to cognitive benefits".