Are runners really smarter? Science thinks so

According to researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, sustained aerobic exercise might be most beneficial for brain health also in humans.

We've all heard the term, "Gym Rat," but research from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland suggests we might be better off, at least as far as our brains are concerned, concentrating on sustained aerobic exercise.

The researchers, whose study was published this month in the Journal of Physiology, gathered a large group of adult male rats and injected them with a chemical that marks new brain cells. The group of rats was then divided into "workout groups," some focused on running on a wheel in their cage, the aerobic group, while others were provided with a climbing wall in their cage. That group had tiny weights attached to their tails to provide the resistance training. The third group remained sedentary (couch potatoes).

The jogging group had varying amounts of mileage per day and at times were subjected to high intensity interval training (HIIT), which included the rat being placed on a small treadmill with speeds varied to simulate sprinting for three minutes followed by two minutes of a moderate pace for 15 minutes of running.

After seven weeks, the researchers concluded that the jogging rats had shown, "robust levels of neurogenesis." In other words, the rats generated more new brain cells than the other rats, especially the sedentary ones.

Interestingly enough, there were far fewer neurons in the brains of the animals that had completed the HIIT program. While the HIIT rats had higher amounts of new cells than the sedentary rats, they had far fewer than the distance runners.

The strength trainers, the rats that climbed the walls with weights attached to their tails, grew stronger but had no additional neurogenesis. In other words, they were the dumbbells of the gym rats.

Researcher Miriam Nokia suggested that, "sustained aerobic exercise might be most beneficial for brain health also in humans."

Why?

Distance running stimulates the release of a brain-derived neurotrophic factor that regulates neurogenesis. The more miles the rats ran, the more BDNF it produced.

Weight training had little effect on BDNF production and HIIT also underperformed, probably due to the high level of stress and intensity of the exercise.

In an unscientific analogy, I have noticed that most of the high school cross country runners I have encountered in my 20 years as a high school sports reporter are among the highest performing in the classroom.

Coincidence? I thought so.

I believed the mental toughness one needs to become a distance runner led to more discipline in the classroom and in completing homework and other assignments.

Now I know there is scientific evidence to support that theory.