Creative Tutors of Wake County, North Carolina

Exercise Keeps the Brain Fit

An interesting article by the US News and World Report reports on a study which will appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The hippocampus, which is the memory center in our brains, shrinks with age. Researchers are reporting that exercise affects key structures in the brain.

Follow up:

The study followed 60 adults aged 55-80 as they worked up to an exercise program of walking 40 minutes three times a week. A year later, the aerobic exercise showed a 2 percent increase in the volume of the anterior hippocampus. Th anterior hippocampus is one of the few places where new nerve cells are generated from adult stem cells throughout a person’s life.

This research looked at exercise and the older brain. However, it points out how important exercise is at any age. Children need time to run and play as well as having time set aside for planned exercise. Learning to incorporate exercise into your day is a learned behavior and one that parents can teach. Increasing blood flow to the brain will help keep the child's brain fit, too.

Categories: General Education, Health and Nutrition | Permalink | Send feedback »

Comments:

No Comments for this post yet...

Comments are not allowed from anonymous visitors.

Meet Kim Ashby | Owner

Kim Ashby earned a BS in Nursing from The Catholic University of America and, when she worked outside the home, was a Certified Emergency Nurse with a special interest in trauma nursing. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and three sons. The Ashbys have home schooled their children since 1999. They graduated their oldest son in May 2007. He is attending UNC Wilmington. Kim continues to home school her younger boys. Her oldest son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in the public school system in the second grade. Her second son has cerebral palsy which has resulted in multiple/global developmental delays. Her youngest son has undiagnosed, mild auditory processing issues.

Kim has co-instructed graduate level courses at UNC Chapel Hill for ST/OT students and Early Intervention students. She is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of GIFTSNC, Inc., a home schooling special needs support group. Kim has presented workshops at a variety of state home school conferences as well as local support group parent meetings and is often a guest speaker at homeschool conferences and is found on many guest speaker lists including Balancing the Sword. She is a Steering Committee member and former Treasurer for Dayspring Home Educators in Cary, NC. She served on the Board of Directors for the Family Support Network of Wake County. She holds a North Carolina Wildlife Permit for Small Mammal Rehabilitation and enjoys working with orphaned and injured wildlife.

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Mark Twain