from Frontiers of Human Neuroscience
It makes sense that physically fit kids would be healthier than their couch-potato counterparts, but University of Illinois researchers show the fitness extends to the brain. The study, published in Frontiers of Human Neuroscience, shows brains of aerobically fit nine and ten year olds have healthier white matter than their less fit peers. More substantial white matter is associated with faster and more efficient nerve activity, since white matter allows communication to and from grey matter areas, and between grey matter and the other parts of the body. It functions by transmitting the information from the different parts of the body towards the cerebral cortex. Previous work by the same research team found a relationship between fitness and white matter quality in older adults, suggesting that fitness over a lifetime may have beneficial effects for our brain.