Your Brain on Exercise: How Working Out Makes You Smarter

Exercise improves your body, but it also improves your mind. Regular exercisers learn faster, remember more, think more clearly, and even recover more easily from brain injuries.

Athletes and people who exercise not only have better bods — they have better brains too, a host of studies have now firmly established.

A review of studies published earlier this month, in fact, found that a balanced diet and regular exercise can protect the brain and ward off mental disorders.

Other research has focused just on the effects of exercise. The bottom line: Exercisers learn faster, remember more, think clearer and bounce back more easily from brain injuries such as a stroke. They are also less prone to depression and age-related cognitive decline.

But why should a mindless half-hour on a treadmill affect your brain? Read more