We've been told for decades that exercise improves our brains. But does it really enhance our mental abilities, or do our expectations give our brains a boost instead — basically, the placebo effect?
The placebo effect is perhaps best known as it relates to drugs. If a person believes that a drug works, their body may create the results expected by taking the drug even though they are taking a fake look-alike called a placebo.
According to an article published in the New York Times, scientists have begun to wonder whether or not exercise really has cognitive benefits, or if the benefits occur because people believe they will. If the benefits of exercise are the result of the placebo effect, the article asks, then would the gains be temporary?
Previous research found that playing action video games improved players' thinking ability. But when scientists asked players how much they thought playing video games improved their thinking, the players' estimates were almost exactly the same as the results shown by tests they took after playing. So, the benefits seemed mostly a placebo effect.
A new study focused on exercise. Volunteers were asked how much they thought a stretching and toning program might improve their brains. Other volunteers were asked how much they believed a walking program improved their ability to think.
In the actual experiments, stretching and toning didn't improve thinking skills, although volunteers believed they would, but walking actually did, even though participants thought they'd get more of a mental benefit from stretching and toning.
To read the entire New York Times article, go here.
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