Exercise for the Brain

By: Nellie Gkatzimas

Editor: Ritisha Debnath

As the first month of the semester comes to an end, many students may already feel drained. Taking care of our minds and bodies in thoughtful ways can help us counterbalance any mental or physical barriers to study, resist procrastination, and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Simple habits like eating well, sleeping a full eight hours a day when possible, exercising regularly, and controlling the time spent monitoring electronic devices and associated information overload can go a long way for a balanced student life.

Adopting healthy habits can alleviate fatigue and lack of focus, both critical factors in the learning process and academic performance. I will focus on the habit of regular exercise in this article. The National Institute of Health (NIH) assessed several related studies and concluded that regular exercise, even light-intensity exercise, improves human general cognition, memory, and executive function. The NIH assessment revealed that these results were more prominent in children and adolescents. This finding underlines the importance of establishing good habits early in life that can serve to maintain great physical and mental health and achieve an overall better quality of life.

Many people believe working out is only helpful to your physical health, although it actually has huge advantages to your mental health, memory, and overall cognition levels. In the studies compiled and reviewed by the NIH, a vast and diverse pool of subjects were observed  making this study applicable to everyone, and improving the reliability of their findings. Across all of these different groups there is clear evidence that exercise consistently improved three key cognitive domains: general cognition, memory, and executive function. While the effect varied from different groups, they were still found amongst all the pools of subjects. Children as well as adolescents showed a larger improvement in their memory and executive functioning as opposed to adults, suggesting that exercise may be especially vital during periods of rapid brain development. In addition individuals with ADHD showed significantly better gains in executive function than other groups. Furthermore, certain video games called exergames which involve participants in physical movement provided a notable boost in cognitive performance. This improvement is likely to be attributed to the simultaneous physical and psychological requirements of the game. Overall the NIH review points towards the conclusion that exercise consistently leads to improved cognitive health.

Works Cited:

Mayo Clinic Staff. “8 Brain Health Tips for a Healthier You.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/healthy-aging/in-depth/brain-health-tips/art-20555198. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

Singh, Ben, et al. “Effectiveness of Exercise for Improving Cognition, Memory and Executive Function: A Systematic Umbrella Review and Meta-Meta-Analysis.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 3 June 2025, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12229068/.

“Tips to Improve Concentration.” Harvard Health, 20 Nov. 2023, www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/tips-to-improve-concentration.