okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Thursday, November 15, 2007
exercise and the brain
I read an article the other day about the effect of exercise on your brain. Here is a quote that caught my eye:
One form of training, however, has been shown to maintain and improve brain health — physical exercise. In humans, exercise improves what scientists call “executive function,” the set of abilities that allows you to select behavior that’s appropriate to the situation, inhibit inappropriate behavior and focus on the job at hand in spite of distractions.
"Focus on the job at hand in spite of distraction" sounds like a good thing for an orienteer.
As best I can tell, scientists aren't sure why exercise would help but they've got a few theories, exercise:
1. slows "age-related shrinkage of the frontal cortex"; 2. increases capillaries in the brain (better blood flow); 3. reduces chances of heart attacks and strokes (which can cause brain damage); and 4. increases some sort of connections in the brain.
Thought you might find this interesting. An orienteering event organised by Anne-Margrethe Hausken on a oil rig. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article2103990.ece
