Spark summary

You know that you can tone your muscles by lifting weights. But did you know that your brain is also a malleable organ that gets stronger with use?

Think of your brain as just another big muscle – which means that if you keep your brain active, it will get stronger.

Every time you learn something new, the cells in your brain forge stronger connections to process the new information. But what’s even more fantastic is that physical exercise also helps facilitate this connection process, prepping your brain to learn even more.

But wait a second – how does physical exercise help the brain learn?

Exercise works to boost the brain’s infrastructure, or its ability to create the connections you need to learn. In part, this happens because exercise leads to an increase in the levels of important neurotransmitters that foster connections in the brain, like dopamine and serotonin.

But exercise also physically changes your brain cells, too.

When you work your muscles, these organs produce a specific type of protein known as growth factors. These proteins travel to the brain, where they make brain cells more capable of connecting. Growth factors also supply the building blocks for new brain cells and connections.

And the icing on the cake is that dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that are released as you exercise, also sharpen your focus while improving your mood and motivation.

Thus the more you exercise, the better your brain’s ability to learn!

At Naperville Central High School, many students were struggling with English literacy and were required to attend extra lessons to improve reading comprehension. The school decided to explore the effects of exercise on learning and required that one group perform vigorous exercises right before class.

This exercise program, called Zero Hour PE, improved the group’s reading comprehension by 17 percent – while classmates who didn’t exercise improved only by 10.7 percent.

So clearly, exercise can help boost your brain’s capabilities, but that’s just one of the many benefits of exercise. Next you’ll learn about how exercise alleviates stress.