We've all heard about the benefits of exercise for our hearts and to reduce cholesterol, but what about for happiness, improving intelligence and memory as well as for alleviating addiction, stress and aggression.
Scientists at Yale University found that regular exercise stimulates the hippocampus which is an area of the brain responsible for mood. Their study of mice showed that exercise activated a gene in the hippocampus called VGF. It's linked to a chemical involved in new nerve cell development.
Exercise doesn't make you more intelligent, rather it stimulates the brain making for improved learning capacity thereby optimizing performance. Exercise increases blood flow to the part of the brain which is responsible for memory and learning. The stimulation improves brain functioning in learning situations.
Increased blood flow to the brain also improves memory function. From studies with mice at the Columbia University Medical Centre (NY), new brain cells grew in the dentate gyrus area, an area which is affected in old age. With new cell growth due to exercise, memory would improve. At least in mice.