This is Your Brain on Brawn

During a doctor’s appointment when my wife was pregnant with our first child, her gynecologist walked into the office, pointed to my head, and remarked, “Oh, you’re gonna hate this guy by the time this is over.” That was one of the more memorable times I’ve been reminded that I have a large noggin. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not Bruce Bochy big; he wears a 8 1/4 hat size. But it’s apparently big enough to attract attention and to strike fear into any affiliated birth canal. The size of my skull, as longtime subscribers will surely attest, leaves plenty of room for brain growth—which it turns out can be achieved through exercise. And if that weren’t enough to turn heads, it takes very little work to realize significant gains. And there’s no need to bang your head against a wall. At least not for long. A recent study found that “men and women, of any age, who exercised for at least 25 minutes a week showed mostly greater brain volume than those who didn’t. The differences weren’t huge but were significant.” And, “bigger brains typically mean healthier brains.” You’d have to be a dumbbell not to hit the dumbbells. WaPo (Gift Article): How exercise increases brain volume — and may slow memory decline. (I’ve been trying this for a few weeks and my hippocampus can already bench 250.)