"Mente sana in corpo sano"... the ancient philosophy is coming back with scientific proof. Several studies over the past few years have found that aerobic exercise increases mental capacity, especially in memory and lateral thinking. Newsweek, Business Week, and Scientific American are a few of the publications to cover these findings in recent months.
Creative tests given before and after 20 minutes of intense aerobic exercise show that all persons in the study improved their scores by an average of 20% percent. An over simplification is that exercise triggers a sort of brain cell production due to increased blood flow and oxygen. People who participated in intense aerobic activity in their youth will have permanent increased capacity but regular exercise for those past their growing years will thwart such disease as Alzheimer’s, dementia and general diminished capacity by following a regular exercise routine. Interesting anecdote: Business Week noted that people who participate in aerobic sports also make more money than counterparts in non-aerobic sports.
