The Many Benefits of Exercise

     The article "How Exercise Benefits the Brain" written by Gretchen Reynolds and founded in NewYorkTimes.com is about new research that states how simply working out can be beneficial for the brain. Recently new research has been found in Ireland that exercising can help improve a person's memory by increasing the brain- derived neurotrophic factor, also known as BDNF levels in the brain. The experiment took place in Ireland where a group of male college students were asked to participate in a series of memory tests after exercise. In the beginning of the experiment, they had all the students look at a row of photos and names rapidly move across a computer screen and then were asked to recall what they had just seen. The first half of the students then rode on a stationary bicycle until they had become exhausted and the other half sat while watching them exercise for thirty minutes. The students who had exercised ending up doing much better on the tests rather than the ones who had just watched. Blood samples taken from each and every one of the students proved that those who had exercised had an increased levels of BDNF, which led to a significant amount of improvement in the students' memory. I believe this article to be important because it shows how simple exercise and being healthy can benefit us in many ways possible.