Is our brain power related to our fitness? Apparently yes. Scientists came to this conclusion in a study that compared running performance with results from attention and learning tests and brain scans.
Who is fitter is also smarter? Researchers at the University of Münster were able to establish a connection between physical and mental fitness. The study focused in particular on cognitive abilities, i.e. the brain functions that exchange information and control behavior.
Run faster, think faster
«The great strength of our work is the size of the database,» wrote study leader Dr. Jonathan Repple in a press release.1 He and his team from the University of Münster had around 1,206 MRI brain scans, which made it possible to «eliminate potentially misleading factors and significantly strengthen the analysis». The study participants, who had an average age of 30, also took part in a series of practical attention tests after being asked to run as fast as possible for two minutes.2 In summary, the conclusion was that the fitter you are, the smarter you are.
The scientists found that those study participants who ran faster (and are therefore better trained or fitter) presented themselves as more perceptive and receptive/learning in the attention tests. And this result coincides with the evaluation of the MRI scans. The fitter subjects had a higher percentage of white matter. That white mass is important for the function of the nerve connections in the brain and thus also for cognitive abilities.
Also interesting: How do you get faster while running?
Can you train smart?
According to Repple, it was shown that the subjects who were fit and keen on training were also mentally fitter, i.e., to put it bluntly, smarter. Can one also say that physical training (also) makes the brain fitter? «Finding that out is our next step,» says the scientist.
Also interesting: THIS amino acid is a real brain booster
What about older people?
The study dealt with a younger average age. In older people, experts already assume that physical activity has an effect on maintaining brain function by reducing or slowing down the reduction in brain volume. FITBOOK had reported on a corresponding study by the University of Jülich.3