Young adults' brain function may be boosted by exercise

Regular exercise improves brain activity in young adults, says a new study. The conclusion runs counter to the popular belief that because they are in their prime and the peak of their cognitive ability, young adult brains do not benefit from exercise in the same way as older brains.

The new study found that young women who exercised regularly had higher oxygen availability in the frontal lobe of the brain and performed best on difficult cognitive tasks compared to counterparts who exercised less.

The new study, published in the journalPsychophysiology, comes from the University of Otago in New Zealand, where lead investigator Dr. Liana Machado is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology.

There is already a lot of evidence that aerobic exercise improves brain function in older adults, but how it affects young adults is somewhat unclear.

The new study found that young women who exercised regularly had higher oxygen availability in the frontal lobe of the brain and performed best on difficult cognitive tasks compared to counterparts who exercised less.

Oxygen availability is already known to be important in cognitive functioning, which among other things covers thinking, memory, learning, reasoning, intelligence, attention, visual and motor skills and language.

Source: journalPsychophysiology,