Could running reshape our minds? Apparently so, according to a recent study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, which found that endurance runners had connections in their brains — linked to memory, motor function, and processing — that their inactive counterparts did not.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Arizona, looked at the relationship between endurance exercise and the brain. Researchers took a resting-state M.R.I of 22 men, aged 18–25. Of these men, 11 were competitive distance runners while the remaining 11 were healthy, but sedentary, men.
The research found that, compared to the inactive group, the endurance runners had more connectivity in specific parts of their brain. As the New York Times writes, the runners appeared to have brains “in which certain cognitive skills, including multitasking and concentration, were more finely honed than among the inactive men.”
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Originally published at journal.thriveglobal.com