Yoga-na get straight A's this semester:
Physical activity and mental performance
Kate Lee
Issue date: 8/4/08 Section: Pulse
In 2005, researchers in Washington University St. Louis reported in the Journal of American College Health that upon admission to college, the high stress environment coupled with poor food choices and usually a more sedentary lifestyle led to weight gain. But could this reduction of physical fitness have an impact on things such as the student's GPA and overall academic performance? Moreover, could this decrease in exercise bear consequences for more negative life outcomes?
Entering college removes the average student from 45 minutes of gym class every week day and places him or her in a variable weekday schedule with no daily allocated time for physical activity-unless, of course, he or she chooses to pump iron at the gym at 5pm every day after class. The decrease in exercise for many young adults may even affect their academic performance.
"We've known for some time that participation in regular physical activity has neurological benefits and recently studies have shown that elementary and secondary school students that participate in regular physical activity have lower rates of drug use, sexual activity, criminal behavior, and academic failure; and higher rates of working, doing house work, and getting good grades. We're asking, 'Does exercise work to improve mental performance?' and 'If so, how?'" explained Eduardo Bustamante, a PhD student studying under Dr. David Xavier Marquez in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition's Exercise Psychology Lab.
His ongoing study, "Increasing mental performance: The merits of mental versus physical exercise," will attempt to reveal some of the causal influences that physical activity has on aspects of mental performance that he believes may impact academic performance, delinquent behavior, and ultimately life outcomes. Because previous research has been correlational and cannot infer causation, his research design is devised to inspect a facet of the causal mechanism by which physical exercise may affect mental performance. Maybe crunch-time is not just for finals week.
Entering college removes the average student from 45 minutes of gym class every week day and places him or her in a variable weekday schedule with no daily allocated time for physical activity-unless, of course, he or she chooses to pump iron at the gym at 5pm every day after class. The decrease in exercise for many young adults may even affect their academic performance.
"We've known for some time that participation in regular physical activity has neurological benefits and recently studies have shown that elementary and secondary school students that participate in regular physical activity have lower rates of drug use, sexual activity, criminal behavior, and academic failure; and higher rates of working, doing house work, and getting good grades. We're asking, 'Does exercise work to improve mental performance?' and 'If so, how?'" explained Eduardo Bustamante, a PhD student studying under Dr. David Xavier Marquez in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition's Exercise Psychology Lab.
His ongoing study, "Increasing mental performance: The merits of mental versus physical exercise," will attempt to reveal some of the causal influences that physical activity has on aspects of mental performance that he believes may impact academic performance, delinquent behavior, and ultimately life outcomes. Because previous research has been correlational and cannot infer causation, his research design is devised to inspect a facet of the causal mechanism by which physical exercise may affect mental performance. Maybe crunch-time is not just for finals week.
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