The body was designed to be pushed, and when we push our bodies,
we push our brains, too. Learning and memory evolved in concert
with the motor functions that allowed our ancestors to track
down food. As far as our brains are concerned, if we’re not
moving, there’s no real need to learn anything. Exercise
improves learning on three levels: It optimizes your mindset, by
improving alertness, attention, and motivation. It prepares and
encourages nerve cells to bind to one another, which is the
cellular basis for learning new information. And it spurs the
development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the
hippocampus, an area of the brain related to memory and
learning. We know now that the brain is flexible, or plastic, in
the parlance of neuroscientists -- more Play-Doh than porcelain.
It is an adaptable organ that can be molded by input in much the
same way as a muscle can be sculpted by lifting barbells. The
more you use it, the stronger and more flexible it becomes. Far
from being hardwired, as scientists