How Exercise Improves Learning

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Aug 11, 2008 Mary Desaulniers

New research shows that exercise promotes neurogenesis and enhances the machinery of learning in the brain.

In his book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, John J. Ratey M.D. provides undeniable proof that exercise benefits not only the body but the brain as well.

Exercise Promotes Neurogenesis

Neuroscientists have recently uncovered a strong connection between exercise and cognitive function. Studies show that exercise promotes neurogenesis, the growth of new neurons in the brain. For years, it was believed that the number of neurons in the adult brain remained a fixed entity. In Spark, new research shows otherwise. Mice trained on running wheels produced twice as many new neurons as their non-running counterparts. A Japanese study showed that jogging 30 minutes a day for 12 weeks improved executive function (p.55). In a 2007 study, German researchers discovered that the learning rate in people improved 20% after exercise (p.45).

Exercise Increases Levels of BDNF in the Brain

In the past 15 years, neuroscientists have discovered the significance of a group of proteins known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF which builds and nourishes the infrastructure of cell circuitry in the brain. BDNF improves neural function, promotes neurogenesis and protects neurons against cell death. Ratey, in Spark, calls it the "Miracle-Gro" of the brain because it causes synapses to sprout new dendritic branches, providing more synapses to accelerate connections (p.40). A healthy brain is a well-connected brain. Aging has been correlated with cell death and disruptions in the connectivity of the brain. The more a brain is primed to promote neurogenesis, the stronger it is. Exercise has been shown to increase levels of BDNF in the brain (p.44).

Exercise Enhances the Machinery of Learning

Several studies cited in Spark have demonstrated the effect of exercise on learning. In one study, researchers hid an escape platform beneath the water in one quadrant of a rodent-sized pool. Their aim was to test how quickly rodents could remember the location of their escape route from an early learning dip. Two groups of mice were used. One group worked the training wheels 4-5 kilometers a night; the other group stayed inactive. The inactive mice "floundered" in water before locating the platform while the active mice "made a beeline for the platform." Upon dissecting the mice, researchers discovered that the active ones had twice the rate of neurogenesis in the brain as the sedentary ones (p.50).

Promoting neurogenesis and BDNF levels in the brain, exercise produces far too many benefits on the machinery of learning to be ignored. The most persuasive evidence of enhanced learning through exercise can be found in the transformation of a school district in Chicago that has implemented daily exercise programs in its curriculum. Napierville School District 203, for example, has consistently scored among Illinois' top ten schools despite the fact that the amount of money it spends on each student is significantly lower than other top-tier public schools (p.13). Moreover, Napierville Central High School scored first place in Science and sixth in Mathematics in an international test that has usually been aced by students in some Asian countries like Japan and Singapore (p.14).

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