Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition

Mounting evidence suggests that aerobic exercise improves cognitive function throughout the lifespan. In this article, Hillman and colleagues describe the latest research in humans and non-human animals and discuss the implications for our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. An emerging body of multidisciplinary literature has documented the beneficial influence of physical activity engendered through aerobic exercise on selective aspects of brain function. Human and non-human animal studies have shown that aerobic exercise can improve a number of aspects of cognition and performance. Lack of physical activity, particularly among children in the developed world, is one of the major causes of obesity. Exercise might not only help to improve their physical health, but might also improve their academic performance. This article examines the positive effects of aerobic physical activity on cognition and brain function, at the molecular, cellular, systems and behavioural levels. A growing number of studies support the idea that physical exercise is a lifestyle factor that might lead to increased physical and mental health throughout life.