Something in the news ....

Exercise and the brain


How exercise can strengthen the brain.
By Gretchen Reynolds
September 28, 2011


I found this article very interesting because the scientists thought to check the activity in the already existing brain cells and mitochondria and not the fact that new mitochondria's were being produced. The conclusions that they drew from the experiment on the mice was that there was more mitochondrial activity was taking place from the brain cells. With more mitochondrial activity it is believed that this could help with cell revitalization which would then in turn help with mental fatigue. I like how they also mention that they knew it was being performed on mice and that it may not be the same relation to humans but exercise will still be beneficial.


I felt like this would be helpful for high school kids because I feel as though they should all be exercising. If exercise was implemented more regularly then it could potentially help with school. High school kids are still growing and still developing so by keeping the brain active and gaining more mitochondria's they will be keeping more than just their bodies fit. Also this study showed that it could help with the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases which to me would be important because I believe in prevention and even though this hasn't been proven yet, exercise performed correctly wouldn't hurt. Working on preventing things can help to further an athlete's sports performance and work on their mental fatigue.