John Medina, author of Brain Rules, some notes from his lecture

[Connie Weber]

John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist.

Some of his central points:

Our evolution created in us an "evolutionary performance envelope." We're selectively evolved to "solve problems in an outdoor setting, in unstable meteorological conditions, in near constant motion."

Way simplified, a couple of thoughts:

Exercise is way more important than we ever knew it to be. Exercise improves cognition and buffers against the effects of stress. (Stressed brains do not operate in the same way as non-stressed brains.)

The geriatric literature shows a clear bimodal distribution on a scale of "aging well" with one independent variable: the presence or absence of a sedentary life style.
The active elderly seem smarter than the inactive elderly, on all sorts of measure of cognition: executive function, memory, spacial abilities, reaction time.

Put simply, people who have an active lifestyle can mobilize their intelligence.

Can you take a sedentary population and exercise them, see if there's a change? Yes--changes in executive function are evident in as little as 4 months. there's a big difference, 50-120% improvement.

Significant results are achieved with exercising as little as three times a week.

It has to be aerobic exercise, weights for toning don't count.

Our probable evolutionary heritage involved walking 10 to 20 km per day.

When is the best time to learn something, when do you get the best results? (From many studies in business, for instance, studies of executives having to learn a new language.) The best results are obtained when people study during the cool down period after exercise.

Regarding Alzheimer's, the lifetime risk: an active lifestyle is associated with a 50% reduction in risk; a lifetime of having an active lifestyle is associated with a 60% reduction in risk.

Media makes his case really clear with tons of solid studies.

Then he says, so why are schools doing just exactly the opposite of what would seem advisable given our evolutionary heritage and current verifiable results from intervention in the learning process? What we should be doing is having a guided workout program punctuated with classroom learning activities (not the opposite which is a lot of sedentary time with a little action now and then).

What I like about it all is that I can feel entirely justified now for going off on a long run, or for taking the time to play soccer twice a week! "Attending to my brain, it's important..."

I want to get this out to friends, saying exercise! It's about far, far more that getting pounds off or having nice, sculpted bodies (why most of us exercise, for sure ;-) It's blood flow that counts. Blood flow.

Write back and comment on what you think about exercise! Are you doing it?

[Connie Weber]

A link to Medina's Brain Rules, 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.

I really like him. His work is straightforward, practical, scientific, useful. It's exactly in the department of "what needs to be known."

[Connie Weber]

See the article in Harvard Business Review, Breakthrough Ideas for 2008: "The Board Meeting of the Future," for instance, very illuminating and refreshing.

[Connie Weber]

Have you checked out some of the videos on his site?

Here's a link to some of his publications.

[Connie Weber]

"A Fit Body Means a Fit Mind" by Vanessa Richardson in Edutopia

"New findings from biology and education research show that regular exercise benefits the brain in numerous ways. Not only can regular workouts in the gym or on the playground improve attention span, memory, and learning, they can also reduce stress and the effects of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and even delay cognitive decline in old age. In short, staying in shape can make you smarter..."

An article that fits perfectly with Medina's research, zooming in on exercise's effect on children in particular.

[Ian Carmichael]

Thanks for this Connie,

I'm waiting on my copy of Medina (which includes the DVD, I guess containing the web videos.)
I note that the book doesn't include references [quite a storm in a teacup over this in the amazon reviews!] - but the references are posted on the web-site.

[Ian Carmichael]

Just started reading my recently-arrived copy of Brain Rules - Lena and I have been regularly aiming to walk nightly for 30+ minutes (And all the more so for my diabetes prone body!). Since the nights have been closed in for winter we've let it slide, but we're about to recommence it - for general health, first up, but the brain spin-off looks pretty good too.

On the other hand, I don't think much of exercise - but I concede its necessity! (To quote the 1960's Frost Report "In the country they think nothing of getting up at five o'clock in the morning. Townsfolk don't think much of it either!")